Living Sideways
by Jack's Wayward Son
Summary: It all started with a girl. A girl crying in the street, a girl saving the Earth, a girl joining the Doctor on the TARDIS. A girl who turned out to be a walking enigma, a girl who was frightfully brave, a girl who could stare down armies. A girl who loved, a girl who hated, a girl who suffered. A girl who caused the rise of a new enemy. A girl who definitely takes after her father.
1. Desperate Shadows

New places, the Doctor loves new places. He loves them even more when he didn't really intend to be investigating them at all, though he'd never admit to anything like that. This place isn't strictly new, he's sure he's been to Seattle at some point in his life before now, but still. A day he's never been to in a particular place that he wasn't really aiming for. Bit the TARDIS was beeping and now he's running around the cloudy city with his stuff detector thrust out in front of him, cheerfully ignoring the strange looks he's earning from bystanders.

Hair flopping all over the place and his bow tie coming undone due to his excited running, he can't ever seem to escape odd looks. But, there's a girl crying. He senses it before he sees it, all the parts of his brain rushing to catch up with the bits in the loop and he stops, looking around curiously for the cause.

He'd been running as the beeping kept getting faster, he knew he was close to the source before it stopped altogether. Then, there was a distinct lack of being watched. As was previously mentioned, the Doctor gets noticed. He's weird, he's different, people are drawn to different, no matter how much the idea may repel them.

Then, there it is. The crying. He always notices the crying first, out of all the wonders of everywhere he goes, he notices the important stuff. Children's tears tell you all you need to know about a setting. He glances around for barely a second before he sees it. The trouble that, just like all trouble seems to, calling out to him. A crying girl.

She sits with her knees tucked to her chest, she's small and thin, small hands with chipped black nail polish coated over the nails wound into short brown curly hair. The Doctor wanders over to her absently, he finds the best way to look amiable and totally unintimidating it to appear to have absolutely no intent whatsoever. "Now then, what's this?" he asks, crouching in front of her and wondering at the slight cracking in his knees as he does so. He's getting old. Not gray, yet, no noticeable lines in his face, but he feels it in his hearts, joints and lungs. The sort of emptiness that comes with age.

She lifts her face and the Doctor is able to estimate her age from somewhere between 13 and 15. Stale eyeliner and mascara are in messy tracks down her face, as if they've been scrubbed at frequently, turned to little more than charcoal colored streaks. She faces him warily with red-rimmed green eyes and presses herself back into the wall, looking over him analytically, but saying nothing. "What's wrong?" he presses. She bites her slightly chapped lip and looks over his shoulder at the passersby, all of which studiously ignore them.

"They're coming," she finally whispers, still looking over his shoulder, and then behind her, down the alley way to her left. "Who?" the Doctor asks, following her gaze until he sees precisely _who. _A figure, shaped vaguely like a person, as if you're looking at a man's shadow but there's no man standing to catch it. And there are two more behind him, he realizes with a quick look over his shoulder.

He turns back front, eyeing the man-_ish _while he addresses the girl again. "I'm the Doctor, what's your name?" he asks and she looks at him like he's crazy. He doesn't have to see her face to figure it out, everyone looks at him like that when he introduces himself in this manner. "Ari. Ari Ward," she replies nonetheless. "Ari Ward, for the next few hours can I trust you to do exactly as I say when I say it?" he asks. It seems that there is something quite amiss here and he needs someone to be his temporary Amy-and-Rory, considering they're at home living their Normal Life at the moment and he can't risk going to get them in the TARDIS and overshooting.

Ari offers and nod and the Doctor pulls her up as he rises lithely, minding her as she stumbles after being folded up for so long. "We're going to start now. Run," he flashes a grin and takes off, yanking her after him on her significantly shorter legs. He saw she was small in stature, but goodness, there's got to be a foot or so difference between them. Surprisingly quick on her feet, Ari keeps up with him on worn Converse, legs working to catch up.

"What are they?" she asks in a huff of breath after the Doctor decides they've lost the creatures and starts to walk along with her down a street, pausing to duck into a small coffee shop. "You tell me. You were running from them," the Doctor says, looking her over thoughtfully. She averts her gaze, staring at her hands resting on top of the rickety wooden table. The Doctor waits patiently for her to open up, getting the sense she isn't one to be rushed into speaking.

"I've seen them before. The shadows, only they were attached to people. But… they didn't belong to the people, if that makes any sense," she finally says, glancing up into his face for barely a moment to gauge his reaction. He merely looks thoughtful, but not cynical like she thought he might've been.

"You've seen them?" the Doctor asks and Ari gives a small nod. "And the others haven't?" another wiggle of her head. "Alright. That's good, that is definitely a start." But the Doctor can't shake a weird feeling about Ari. Little girl sitting against a brick wall, crying because she was running from monsters, yes, anyone could understand that, but this little girl was running alone. Old make up, worn clothes…

"Where is your family, Ari?" he asks. The key word was "alone". No one leaves their daughter who sees shadows alone.

"Don't have one." she says shortly, crossing her arms and frowning up at him openly. "Ari Ward. Ward of the state?" the Doctor guesses, trying not to smile. She's clever. Uses a fake name without really lying. "Ward of every state. I've lived in every state except Alaska." she says and doesn't sound thrilled about it.

"How old are you, Ari?" the Doctor asks. "14." she mumbles. 14 year old girl ran away from her foster home when she started seeing shadows coming after her. And of course, no one thought to stop and help her.

Ari looks over the Doctor's shoulder out the window and frowns, spotting more shadows where there's nobody casting them. "They… they kind of look sad," Ari remarks, looking at the stain on the sidewalk outside, watching and waiting. the people she saw taken; her foster sister, a woman who used to sleep in an alley that Ari would give money to, a lonely shop clerk, they had all disappeared when no one was looking and returned with a shadow that didn't belong to them.

"Sad?" the Doctor asks curiously. "Yeah. Shadows without people taking people. Sort of… desperate, honestly." she replies.

"Desperate," the Doctor repeats the word, rolling it around on his tongue experimentally. Then, he yells it, causing Ari to jump and the other customers to glare at him. "Sorry. But you're right," the Doctor takes her by the hand and the beeping thing in his pocket shrieks desperately, causing the Doctor to falter in his steps. "Desperate creatures on the hunt for new bodies, maybe even a new planet," he covers quickly, knowing now is not the time to get distracted. He pulls her along by the hand down the street, back the three blocks to the TARDIS. When they stop in front of her, Ari wrinkles her nose.

He expects something insulting to come out of her mouth, but instead she only stares at the vessel, that is until the Doctor snaps his fingers, opening the door and pulling her inside. Her eyes widen and she lets her jaw drop a bit, before closing her mouth tightly and focusing her gaze, trying to look at everything at once.

Again, the Doctor expects the same phrase everyone else utters, the most obvious one, but she doesn't seem to be done. She runs out, circling the outside twice as if trying to figure out _how _while the Doctor gives a small laugh. Running back in, Ari cracks a smile, too, finally allowing the amazement to sink in. She approaches the console and looks down at all of the buttons, wanting to press all of them but worrying that she'll end up breaking it.

"What is it?" she asks, gesturing. "_She _is called the TARDIS," the Doctor says, falling into the familiar territory to explaining the ship to small human minds. "Time And Relative Dimension in Space." he continues, watching her nod along to his words. "Space ship?" she guesses. "Yes," the Doctor agrees. "Alien?" The Doctor nods. She looks him over, as if trying to decide something. She's never asked anyone this before, what if it's some sort of touchy subject.

"Alien?" she aims a finger at him. "Yes. Is that okay?" he raises an eyebrow in a challenge. It's been a while since someone has proved themselves to be companion material this quickly, all mysterious beeping equipment aimed at her aside.

"Fine," she answers quickly. The Doctor smiles at her and then goes back to the issue at hand. "So, these things are aliens, too?" Ari asks. "Right. Maybe, anyway. Aliens that lost teir planet and are on the search for a new one." The Doctor agrees. "Still doesn't explain why they haven't got corporeal forms." Ari points out, joining him by the console while he searches local star systems for where they may have come from.

"Corporeal. Very good." He gets a match and points it out to Ari, who simply stares at the circles and dots on the screen. "Um, I can't read that." She prompts him. "They're from a local star system a few light years away. Easy to get to if you've got rudimentary warp drive," it sometimes annoys him how primitive Earth is. "And I'm guessing they do?" Ari asks dryly. "Yes, they're called Bellanites. They're planet burnt out, they're looking for a new one with an atmosphere compatible with their own," the Doctor explains. "Still doesn't tell me why they haven't got bodies." Ari grumbles, leaning against the console.

"The planet burnt, the people with it. But, they're highly psychic. They're using their psychic imprints to travel around with until they find a body to claim. There's a whole species floating around out there." the Doctor says and the girl frowns. "They're just stealing bodies that don't belong to them? Living ones with host consciousnesses already inside. Isn't that sort of… wrong?" she asks thoughtfully. "Of course it is," the Doctor says automatically. "Then why do you look like you think it's a perfectly acceptable thing to do?" Ari analyses his expression carefully. "I don't. I'm just… admiring their ability to do so." the Doctor shrugs, then looks her over again.

"They're floating psyches, how'd you see them?" he ponders. "Just lucky, I guess," she mutters. "Might be more sensitive to psychic ability than the average human." he says. A voice in the back of his mind whispers, "Or maybe it's because of the funny readings she's giving off. you were running through Seattle for a reason." he tells it to shut up and rolls his shoulders, going back to the door. He sees that the shadows have crowded outside and there are dozens, scores and scores of them, a dark army.

"Run, again?" Ari suggests when they start to shuffle towards the pair. The Doctor simply nods, moving his feet and running in the opposite direction, sprinting away from them. "They've been scanning the people they take. The _undesirables. _People they think nobody else would miss. That's how I know they're really desperate. They're coming after me," he explains in a shaky exhale, glancing at Ari over his shoulder.

"I spend my time saving the universe." he concludes and Ari only shakes her head, as if she wants to tell him something, but can't find the words. A cold sweeps down her spine and across her heart and she turns around to see that a Bellanite is close enough to reach out and brush her with its fingertips, and that's exactly what it's doing, trying to catch her. She yelps and speeds up, pushing her feet harder into the ground to catch up to the Doctor and get away from the Bellanite.

The Doctor turns sharply, pulling her into an alley and taking the opportunity to turn and wave his screwdriver at them, trying to find a weakness. "What's that?" she asks between horse gasps. "Sonic screwdriver. It scans and reads any sort of communication and can… manipulate it. Accept for wood," the Doctor hurriedly explains. Ari nods in vague comprehension, but still seems confused. He takes a second to point it at a padlock attached to a vacant bike chain next to her, popping the lock.

Her eyes widen in comprehension and she nods a little, mind whirring with possibilities. But then the shadows are surrounding them on both sides. Ari sinks against the wall at her back, noting how they all seem to be watching her with faces without defined shape, much less eyes. The Doctor brandishes the screwdriver menacingly and they stay back, observing him, now.

"Hello, Bellanites." he says casually, wiggling his fingers at them. There's a faint humming in the air, not exactly noise, but something. "What is that?" Ari asks and the Doctor glances at her. "You're good." he says, then clears his throat. "They can't see, they can only hear psychic frequencies, footprints and echoes of the world resonating around them. That's how they weed out their prey, they listen in on the social webbing of their brains and find people with less strings. They're talking to each other now, about me, I believe." he explains. Considering how crunched for time they are with trying not to die and all, he seems to be a fan of lengthy explanations.

"You can hear this? You can identify all of the information I have on you," he waves the screwdriver, "And the ones before you? What about them? Daleks, Cybermen, all the creatures destroyed by me, you can sense their burnt remains coming from this thing. You know who I am." the Doctor glares around at them. And then, the silent buzzing turns into a single word that Ari can understand. _Doctor… _

And she can hear the terror in their voice, their collective mind. "And you thought that you could just walk in here and take the planet. You can't even walk, you haven't got bodies. But surely you've got brains, and you should've known better." the Doctor crosses his arms as if scolding them. _Home… _Their voice echoes. "Oh, I don't care what your intentions were, the point is that this planet is already home. A home to an entire race of people, dare I say too many and they certainly can't afford to have you strutting in here and taking over the place. The nerve of you," the Doctor waves away the plea with his hand.

He doesn't even seem to notice the Bellanites coming closer to Ari. "Doctor, give me your screwdriver." she says evenly. The Doctor glances at her, as if to say, "Can't you see I'm busy being intimidating?" but she ignores him. "Doctor, now!" she snaps. He raises his eyebrows and throws it to her, she catches it and quickly figures out how to work the device.

If it reads and interferes with communication, then you have to communicate. Point and think and press the button. She does, pointing it straight up into the air, pressing a button and then they disappear, one by one, dissolving into nothing.

"What did you do?" the Doctor asks. "Well, you said that they were psychic imprints and they were communicating telepathically. And this thing interrupts communication, so I just sort of… dispersed the psychic activity and poof," Ari explains with a small shrug. The Doctor nods, then sighs. "I don't know what's gotten into them. They're getting stupid, there's no reason for them to be after me." he says and Ari rolls her eyes. "They weren't attacking you. They've never been after you. They weren't reaching for _you._" she says, her forehead creasing.

"But they-" the Doctor begins, but then looks up at her and his eyes widen in realization. "Oh. _Oh_. I'm sorry, Ari." he says and she shrugs, going to walk past him, but he catches her elbow. "They've been after you and I didn't even realize. You're a _child._" he exclaims indignantly, angry with himself. "I'm not a child," she says stubbornly. She hasn't been for a long time. "Your foster family. Haven't they come to look for you?" the Doctor asks sympathetically. "I'm a 'difficult child'. I doubt they're too eager to start an actual search. It's only been a day." Ari says bluntly.

The Doctor's hearts shatter for her, but he says nothing. She doesn't want his pity. Instead, the Doctor tugs her back to the TARDIS where the shadows have gathered as if expecting him. "Doctor…" Ari says, eyes flashing with trepidation, but the Doctor only smiles. "Don't worry, I've brought them here," he says. "Not really comforting," Ari mumbles and the Bellanites look toward her, she cringes away from them towards the Doctor's side, expecting for them to attack again, but none of them move.

"Now, here we are, all standing around like properly civilized intelligent life-forms. Let's talk," the Doctor says amiably, pushing Ari slightly behind him as a precaution. "You need a new planet, don't you?" he asks expectantly. _Yes… _the collective voice hisses. "Your sun betrayed you. Exploded and destroyed your planet, your bodies as well. Your souls survive. But obviously they need hosts," the Doctor states. _Homeless… _they reply, one word answers are all that's able to cross coherently through the psychic connection with the two incompatible brains they're trying to communicate with.

"So you decided that it'd be a wonderful idea to come to a Level 5 planet, as sanctioned in the Shadow Proclamation, and colonize without permission. And you thought that you'd do this without consequence," the Doctor opens his arms in exasperated disbelief. _Mistake… _They hiss in a way that says, "We now realize our mistake in light of coming face to face with the consequences." And the Doctor _laughs_ and it's a cold, barking sound, filled with scorn for the creatures. No pity. His smile is one that holds only annoyance.

_Mercy… _they plead of him. "Mercy? Did you show mercy when you started to take the bodies of these people? When you tried to take this human _child _because you thought nobody would notice? Was that merciful?" the Doctor steps forward, causing the shadows of the creatures to shrink together and seek comfort in one another.

_Inferior… _it's a weak and desperate argument, as if they already see themselves losing. And the Doctor smiles his annoyed smile again.

"That's not for you to decide. This girl, this planet is alive. It has just as much potential as you. And I'm sure they don't see themselves as inferior." the Doctor says. The Doctor reaches out and takes the sonic screwdriver from her. "Do you know how she made you disappear earlier?" he asks rhetorically. "It was a small excitation in the immediate atmosphere that somehow caused an interference with your psychic connection to the land of the living. Like bad weather interfering with satellite signals. You have two options. One is that you leave this planet at once. The second is that I use this," he raises the screwdriver, "to cause such major atmospheric excitations that it would destroy you and we'd have to go out and find a bloke named _Noah _to come with his Ark and fix it!" the Doctor shouts.

"You have 10 seconds to decide." the Doctor adds, pointing the screwdriver at the TARDIS. "Doctor," Ari exclaims indignantly. He glances at her. "Would you be a dear and count for me, Ari?" he says. "You're going to commit a genocide right after preaching about mercy?" she asks and he wants to deny the accusation, to flinch away from the word, but only holds her gaze. "_Count, Ari!_" he snaps at her.

He feels guilty instantly, seeing the flash of fear in her face, he knows he must be scaring her. "Ten!" she screams, the fear in her face turning to something like fury. But anger is a secondary emotion and it's useful for covering the more vulnerable feelings. And her voice quakes and her eyes shine with something that isn't anger. "Nine," she calls. She reaches eight and thinks that maybe the Bellanites are going to stay, calling the Doctor's bluff, only it isn't a bluff. But by the time she says five, they've all disappeared.

She thinks she may cry because she was running and nearly died and then the only person she trusted screamed at her while threatening to murder a species. The Doctor sighs and looks at Ari, who doesn't look at him, only glares at the ground in front of her, determined to stay dry-eyed. He touches her shoulder and her eyes fly to his face, the same expression of cautious distrust in her eyes as there was when they first met. And the anxiety is also there.

"Allow me to explain," he requests and she crosses her arms, looking at him expectantly. He crouches in front of her, looking up into her face, and tells her that he wouldn't have killed them, but they didn't believe him and the only way to convince them was to convince her. "Okay," she says begrudgingly. Sometimes lying is necessary to make things work.

He looks down at her and notices her shivering in her thin blue tee-shirt and torn jeans. He drops his jacket onto her shoulders and she lets him. A peace-offering. "You remind me of someone I know," she remarks thoughtfully as they sit against the TARDIS. "Who?" the Doctor asks. "A family friend. Well, she says she's a friend of my real parents." she says and the Doctor's eyebrows perk with interest. He's interested in everything about her real parents, because they may be able to explain the impossible beeping of his stuff scanner still sitting on the console. Ari reaches into her pocket and plucks out a worn, folded picture.

In the photo, two people are subjected, a woman and a child standing on a beach. The child has to be Ari, curly locks tightly wound and springing around her head, big green eyes flashing with her wild grin. The woman holding Ari on her hip is none other than River Song.


	2. Ultimate Collection

**A/N: Some notes- this was supposed to be a lot more epic than it was, but as much as I tried, it just didn't work. Also, I've changed the main character's name. This story is something I started a while ago and now that I look back, am ultimately unhappy with. It went in too many directions and had no clear plot. So, I changed the name to something less like a princess and more like a badass. Rory and Amy will become part of the story soon, but for right now I'm trying to establish a steady relationship between Ari and the Doctor and show the sort of person Ari is. Sorry for the long note, I'm not generally one to do this sort of thing. One last thing- this would've been up yesterday, but I couldn't function after the finale! No spoilers here, don't worry, but I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or spontaneously combust. So there's that. Anyway, on with the story.**

The Doctor stares at the picture for a long moment, shock and some sort of anxiety pasted on his face. "Doctor," Ari calls, looking at him curiously for a moment. "You know River?" he asks her. "Yeah. _You _know River?" she asks and then a thought hits her like a ton of bricks. When she was little, River's visits were frequent. The woman would flash into her life with mysteries on her tongue and starlight in her eyes.

She'd tell her these funny stories to pass the time, about the man she was in love with. Ari had always assumed that they were just little fanciful tales to keep her entertained. A man with a gift box which held anything you could possibly want in the universe inside, he looked like a caricature drawing and dressed oddly so he could make other people feel normal. Ari loved these stories, but they stopped when she was older.

But now they take up all of her thoughts, like when a smell triggers a memory of someone you knew when you were a toddler but had forgotten over time. "You did." she realizes, looking the Doctor over a few times. "She told me about you when I was little. Like bedtime stories. I thought they were just stories, at least." Ari explains.

The Doctor nods, thinking of the beeping stuff scanner in his TARDIS. He had followed a signal, one he had set the TARDIS to track such a long time ago that he'd forgotten about it. A signal to search out any and all traces of Gallifreyan DNA on every planet he passes. He had been running through Seattle on the look out for what was causing the beeping, and it had been getting faster until he had come up on Ari, when it had stopped. _You have arrived at your destination. _

The Doctor rises and pushes open the TARDIS door, nodding for her to follow him inside. She does and he scans her with the sonic screwdriver, then puts up his reading on the console's monitor. It's a her anatomy, bones and nerves and organs displayed for them to see. With a few extra pieces Ari wasn't expecting to see.

She looks at the monitor closely and then back at the Doctor. "What am I looking at?" she asks. "You." he replies monotonously. He scans himself and the monitor changes, showing two pictures side by side, his and hers. "And now me," he adds. Then, he points at his own picture. "My… people are different from humans. Two hearts," he points to the organs on either side of his chest. "A few other weird additions here and there." he concludes and Ari stares at her picture. Smaller, but definitely one more heart than there should be in her chest.

"What does that mean?" Ari asks, trying to take a deep breath and calm her whirring brain. "Ari, what's your last name? Your real one, your birth parents' surname?" the Doctor asks her carefully. "Pond. That's what River told me," she says, crossing her arms over her chest. The Doctor smiles a little, but it's forced and his eyes are manic.

What follows is a conversation that neither of them ever thought they'd be having. _You're a Time Lord, Ari. _River Song is the Doctor's wife. River Song's real name is Melody Pond. Ari Pond is their child and it's very nice to meet her. Ari Pond is impossible.

After about an hour of talking and explaining, Ari and the Doctor find themselves sitting on the jumpseat, speechless. "So?" the Doctor finally prompts her to voice her thoughts. "River told me that my parents were dead. Gone. My mom died in a car crash and my dad just left me. I was four and she shattered my heart into a million little pieces by saying that. And now you're telling me that…" Ari takes a breath, trying to finish her sentence. "So. You knew this entire time about this, basically. You're my father and my mother who killed me because for all the time she was around never actually stayed frequently travels with you throughout time and space? And that's supposed to be okay?" Ari snaps.

The Doctor hangs his head, looking uncomfortable. Sometimes there are no words. Ari clears her throat. "So, this place is supposed to be infinite, right?" Ari asks and the Doctor nods. "Can I explore?" she asks. The Doctor gives another nod and small smile. "Be careful, there's a pool somewhere," he says as she rises to her feet. "And if a door is mauve, don't go near it!" he calls to her back retreating down one of the corridors, leaving him alone in the glowing orange room.

She wanders for a while, before stumbling upon a set of heavy oak doors. She pushes them open to reveal a library, floors and floors of books and towering shelves. Immediately to her left is a fireplace with a couch in front of it, placed on top of an Oriental rug. "That's just showing off," she whispers, stepping inside.

After about an hour of sitting in the console room, studying the scans he got on Ari, the phone rings. He picks it up and holds it to his face. "Hello," he prompts the person on the other line to answer. "Hello," how is it possible to hear a knowing smirk over a phone call? "River," the Doctor says, his own voice tight with scorn. How could she not tell him?

"Sweetie, I have something I need your help with. Ever heard of Knat Clandestine?" she asks. "Yes. Richest man in the Great Human Empire in the 45th Century. Success is the endeavor, so on and so forth," the Doctor says, nodding his head along with his words. "Wouldn't you just love to see the skeletons in his closet?" River asks mischievously. "Is there more than one answer to that question?" The Doctor replies, leaning against the console.

"That's the spirit. Dress nicely and come meet me," she gives him coordinates, then hangs up. His pocket heats up with a psychic paper message. _White tie, no fezzes allowed! _River's handwriting warns him. He huffs, but wanders the TARDIS until he reaches the open library doors. "Ari," he calls and hears some rummaging, then see her head pop around a shelf, a stack of books balanced precariously in her arms.

"Put those back, you can come for them later. There's a thing we have to go to, formal wear. I got a call," the Doctor explains. "From whom?" Ari asks, setting her leaning tower of books down on a table and following him while he locates the wardrobe. "Nevermind," he says, allowing her to see past him into the endless room of endless possibilities of clothes. "What sort of time period are we going to?" Ari asks. "51st century," the Doctor tells her. "And what's considered white tie in the 51st century?" she inquires, wide green eyes taking in the room. He marvels at the resemblance between her, himself and River.

Time Lords don't generally look alike, what with regeneration, but put them together and they'd make a proper family group with actual genetic similarities. His eyes, River's hair, his hair color. Amy is going to love this.

"Same as your time, honestly," the Doctor says and she shuffles off among the astounding amount of clothes.

Ten minutes later, the Doctor is waiting in the console room with his tuxedo, cane and top hat. 15 minutes after that, he's beginning to think that Ari had gotten lost or had suffocated in piles and piles of dresses when she comes walking in. "You clean up nicely," the Doctor grins at her and she looks down at herself, somewhere between a self-conscious and curious gaze. She's never really had a reason to dress up before.

Her dress is a dark purple and hangs in layers down to her knees, the sleeves hanging off the shoulder and the back of it laced up like a corset, only in a more stylish manner and less like a Victorian dress that hinders drawing deep breaths. In the few minutes she was gone, her hair had less poof and more defined curls, her eyes seemed to be colored in. The lids shimmer when she blinks and the lashes are darker.

"It's a bit of a surprise, honestly." she says, then laughs at him in his ridiculous white scarf and top hat. "So, what's the situation?" she asks. "Richest man in the Great and Bountiful Human Empire to date has got some skeletons in his closet," the Doctor says simply. "So… we're crashing a party?" Ari asks. "Yes. Well, joining a fellow party crasher," he has to tell her, "It was River that called." Ari blinks in surprise.

"River. Does she know?" Ari asks, gesturing to herself. "No… no, just wait here," the Doctor says and Ari nods. He exits the TARDIS and sees River waiting right by the doors, wearing a black evening gown, holding a glass of a pink fizzy substance and grinning at the Doctor. "You look nervous," she says and the Doctor straightens, fixing River with a glare that makes her raise her eyebrows. "What's that look for? Where are we?" she asks. "I just got here from Seattle." the Doctor says, but River shakes her head, not understanding.

"I was there following this signal that was picking up Gallifreyan traces in Seattle. I followed it and guess what I found," the Doctor says, leaning against the TARDIS. River doesn't say anything. "Guess," he tells her again, twirling his cane.

"You didn't," she says, looking from him to the TARDIS door. "A 14 year old girl, River. How could you not tell me?" River gapes at the Doctor for a long moment, then pushes open the TARDIS door to see Ari sitting there, older than she's ever seen her daughter, curled up on the jumpseat in a purple dress. "You idiot!" she turns to the Doctor, grabbing him by the ends of his white scarf and yanking him into the ship, slamming the door behind them.

"You foolish man! You brought her _with you_? I kept her far away from you, from this to keep her safe. She's a young Time Lord, Doctor, your child. There are those out there who would rip the universe apart for a cell off of your dead body, what do you think would happen if they found out about a living Time Lord who hasn't even regenerated yet? Did you even pause to think?" River shouts, causing Ari to jump.

"So you decided to leave her in 21st century America unprotected, popping into her life occasionally? She's no safer there. I found her alone in the street hiding from invading aliens!" the Doctor returns and gives River pause. She looks over at the girl, sitting and watching them curiously. "Ari?" she asks, as if searching for confirmation. "They had taken a girl who was staying in the foster home. I left, no great loss to them, I'm sure," Ari agrees and River sighs, going over and pulling Ari to her feet.

"Look at you. All grown up." she remarks gently. "And alien, apparently. So, you just decided to skip over that part when you were giving me 'the talk', right?" Ari says dryly and the Doctor coughs. "I'm sorry," River admits, touching Ari's head. "Yeah. Nothing we can do about it, now, though," she says with a small nod.

River nods, then seems to pull herself together. "Well, this is a ball of some sort at Knat Clandestine's private mansion," River says, linking arms with Ari and the Doctor and leading them out of the TARDIS. "Alright, so what sorts of horrible things does the richest man in the Empire get up to?" Ari asks, marveling at the sheer amount of people. It's a massive ballroom stretching literally farther than the eye can see and people are crammed in, eating, drinking, dancing. They're impressive to say the least. The dresses and get ups these people put themselves into are outlandish and exquisite, sparkling distractingly in the lights of antigravity chandeliers overhead.

"That is a conversation for an entirely different evening," River says, winking at Ari and making the Doctor blush. "It's rumored that he's a collector of… rare items." River says. "So? The man has a hobby," the Doctor says dismissively. "Yes, but I've been told by a _very trusted _source that his… collection may be of a sentient nature," River says carefully. The Doctor stops, looking at her in shock.

He's heard of people of this time period collecting living creatures of _value_, taking aliens from their planets, kidnapping them and auctioning them off to the highest bidder. And then he looks at Ari in a panic.

If Mr. Clandestine is a collector, then there are going to be scanners all over the place, things that calculate the value of his guests to see if he wants to add them to his display. And, yes, he's the last of his species, but nevermind that. Ari is a hybrid, no two hybrids are exactly the same, the genetic coding of them, even when it's the combination of the same two species, will be slightly different. Sure, River is one, too, but she was scientifically altered. Ari was a naturally conceived Gallifreyan-human mutant, she's priceless.

River seems to be coming to the same solution and moves, putting the girl between herself and the Doctor. The Doctor pulls the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and discreetly scans around, using Ari as a shield and the music playing to mute the noise. "Door at the end of the room, to the left of the stage," he says quietly and River looks with her eyes to the stage with an orchestra playing on it. "We're being snuck up on," Ari says, just as a cheerful, "Hello!" chimes out from behind them.

They all turn and see Knat Clandestine himself standing there, grinning at them and picking at a piece of lint on his immaculate midnight blue suit. He just looks _rich. _From his shiny shoes, to his perfectly gelled bleach-blond hair to his golden pinky ring, he is a rich man. The ultimate cliche. "I don't recall meeting you," he continues jovially and the Doctor grins, holding out his hand politely. "I'm Doctor John Song, we met last month at the Chen-7 Charity Auction." he lies smoothly and Knat nods, eyes widening as if in recognition, when in fact they've never met before.

"My wife River and my daughter Ari," he nods to the two, who smile immediately, shaking hands with the man. "Wonderful to meet you, the Charity must've slipped my mind." Knat says and continues engaging the Doctor and River in polite conversation while Ari looks back at the door. Somehow she thinks it'll take a bit more than the sonic screwdriver to get past the complicated looking lock system clamping the metal door to the smooth mirrored wall.

She looks back to Clandestine, who is laughing at something the Doctor had said. She takes a moment to marvel at just how much of a charmer he could be, and how infatuated River seems to be with him. But that is beside the point, and Ari sees that Clandestine has a key card attached to his belt. She's more than a little good at pocket pickery.

"So, Doctor, where are you from?" Clandestine asks. The Doctor spits out an answer Ari couldn't hope to pronounce and they go on to talk about the mild winters there and how apparently River grows flowers that live all year long because of it. In his distraction, Clandestine doesn't even notice Ari's small hand at his hip, detaching the key card in a small movement, tucking it into the Doctor's pocket. Eventually the man excuses himself and they quickly make their way over to the door, the Doctor sonicing it and the sonic not working.

Ari smirks as she pulls the key card from his pocket and unlocks it with a wave of the silver card under the scanner. "You little thief," the Doctor says, almost like he wants to scold her. River leads the way into the dim corridor, the door clicking shut with a hushed swish of air, drawing a gun from somewhere under her dress. It's cold, cold enough for them to see their breath steam out in front of their faces as they walk, coming to a door at the end. Through the door, it looks like an aquarium. There are tanks, yes, but there are not fish inside of them. There are aliens. Sad looking creatures that stare out at them with pitiful gazes, locked into the tanks and chained to the floor.

There are all types of species from all over the known universe, the Doctor recognizing all of them. "Doctor, how are we going to get them out?" Ari is the first to speak after the initial shock of seeing them all like this. "There has to be a master switch, some sort of emergency protocol where it would unlock the cages," River says, looking around in the dim white light shining from the glowing ceiling and floor, their footsteps echoing. The things in the cages shy away from them, to the backs of their enclosures.

"River, put your gun away," Ari says, looking at a bird-type thing sympathetically. River lifts her dress and slides the gun into place at her thigh, glancing at the aliens apologetically.

Suddenly, a siren goes off and the room glows red, filling with some sort of gas that fills their lungs. Ari and River drop to their knees, coughing and sputtering, trying to breathe past the stuff invading their lungs. The Doctor leans against the glass of a tank, less affected, trying to reach and grab one or both of them to get them out.

But then Knat Clandestine comes in with three hired guards, all wearing gas masks, and simply points to a door by a small tank, and River, Ari and the Doctor are dragged away.

Ari wakes up with a pounding head and a dry throat, trying to grasp at the elusive, muddled memories swimming lazily in her head. Finally, she remembers where she is and why and she sits up, looking around. She's laying on a gray floor, thick glass walls on all four sides of her, the ceiling the same gray as the floor. Her foot is chained to the ground and she pulls on it, knowing that it won't budge before she even tries. "River, Doctor!" she calls, looking out and seeing no one there. The siren still wails, but it's muted by the glass locking her in, holding her captive.

The Doctor sits up quickly, suddenly alert, drugs never really have too long of a lasting effect on him. He's in a tank, added to the collection. He looks out and around, spying a sign above the door leading into the room. It reads _Endangered Species_ in neat black lettering. At least Clandestine is organized. But, the question is, can a species really be simply endangered when there's only one left?

And another more pressing, less philosophical question is, how will the Doctor get out of there? Because he's missing two of his trio and he shudders to think of what will happen if he shows his face to River without a perfectly safe Ari with him.

He searches his many pockets and is surprised to find his sonic screwdriver and aims it at the lock on the tank door, hoping it would open. But, today has not shown itself to be a lucky sort of day thus far, and is continuing the trend it seems, when the door shows itself to be deadlocked. No way out, no way to know if his wife and daughter are still alive, no way to free the aliens trapped with him.

He rises to his feet and walks the perimeter of the cell, counting the other tanks in the room absently, noting all of the doors and vents and possible means of escape kept from him by a thick sheet of glass. He stops dead in his tracks. _Glass. _All glass can be shattered by the right frequency, and the Doctor has a sonic screwdriver. He presses the button, making the noise emitted go higher and higher until his ears start to bleed, until the glass cracks and smashes rather dramatically all around him, as well as the glass of the other tanks. The entire room is free.

The alarm starts blaring again, but no gas comes with it, only the sound of footsteps and the door opening to reveal some of the hired muscle the Doctor met before. Faced with the _Endangered Species_, they look a little intimidated. The Doctor generally frowns on revenge, but this time he just can't bring himself to. "At your leisure," he says to the other aliens surrounding him and they all stalk to the guards. The Doctor walks off, ignoring the distressed noises coming from the room behind him as best he can.

He finds that there are signs in the hallways, like a real exhibit and follows the ones labeled _Hybrids_ until he comes upon the room. But, the relief only lasts a moment when he sees Ari standing in one of the tanks, because it's rapidly filling with water, up to her knees already. She's busy banging on the glass walls, and the Doctor catches her attention, motioning for her to stand back. She stumbles away from the glass as he reaches the same frequency as when he freed himself. And nothing happens.

"Doctor!" Ari shouts, staring at him. "Just a moment," he says, scanning the glass. It's not glass. "It's not glass. It's space plastic," the Doctor informs her. "Space plastic?" she asks. "Yes, they use it on spaceships, now. Unbreachable; totally unaffected by any sort of pressure, temperatures, or sound waves." he explains. "That's very interesting, Doctor, but how are you going to get me out?" she asks, as the water reaches her hips.

_Why does she have to be so short_, the Doctor thinks. Surely he'd have more time if she were any taller than five feet. All of the other hybrids in the room are staring at him and he pauses to wonder where River went. But then he doesn't care very much, because Briar is going to drown. Time Lords have a respiratory bypass system, allowing oxygen to reach their blood even when they can't use their lungs, but Briar might not. Hybrids are funny that way.

The Doctor sees the other tanks are filling with water. Of course, with a security breach, Clandestine would be the arrogant, selfish type of man to murder his collection rather than let anyone else have them. "There has to be a master key that will unlock the tanks, Doctor. This is useless." Ari says as the water creeps up to her waist. The Doctor nods and scans with his eyes and sonic screwdriver, trying to locate anything that might release the trapped creatures.

There's a panel on the wall. He runs over to it and rips the thing open, seeing a jungle of wires and switches behind it. He scans them, but he knows it will take way too much time to work his way through. But, he's saved the trouble by a demanding voice shouting, "Move!" from behind him. He ducks and a shot sails over his head, hitting the maze of wires and causing the thing to spark. The sirens stop along with the red flashing lights, but the rush of water intensifies, filling the tanks faster.

River and the Doctor turn to watch as Ari treads water, swimming up to the narrow space between the water and the ceiling, gasping for air. The gap is filling quickly and she only has time for one more deep breath before it fills completely. River tries the door attached to the tank, but it's locked up tight. She's going to drown.

She looks back at them, but does nothing but stare, bubbles dotted along her skin and eyelashes, floating from her nose every so often. Ari is trying to extend her time as much as possible, not moving and seeing if it will slow the oncoming tightness in her lungs that is already becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

"Find Clandestine," River says icily, looking at the Doctor. "He will let them out," she continues, her voice carrying the promise of a threat to a man they have yet to even locate.

"You go," the Doctor says and she raises her eyebrows. "I'll stay and try to open up the cages. You're the one with the gun," he explains. River nods, running briskly off and the Doctor scans the wires, but they're fried. There's no way to salvage them, no way to undo the damage.

Ari is fighting an entirely different battle. The battle not to breathe. Her chest is tight and burning, screaming for air and her head is pulsing. She stretches her neck as if it would help and can't resist letting out a small burst of air through her mouth, an action she sorely regrets barely a second later. She looks back to the Doctor, who seems to be yelling at the wiring in the wall and wonders how long it will take before she inhales.

But, then the door opens and River walks in, forcing a very disheveled looking Knat Clandestine in front of her at gunpoint. He sees the situation before him and smiles mockingly, pausing to wiggle his fingers at Ari. The Doctor turns, fixing him with the same glare he gave the Bellanites. Ari can't hear what they're saying, not anymore, but something the Doctor says seems to shake Knat to the core, his eyes flashing with genuine fear and surprise. River moves her gun up to rest gently against the base of his skull as he lifts his key card, unlocking the door just as Ari cracks, taking a deep breath of water.

The door opens and the water drains, Ari slipping out of the tank with it and directly into the Doctor's chest as she grabs his arms, coughing water and taking shaky gulps of air at the same time. River seems prepared to shoot Knat Clandestine, but Ari gasps out, "Don't," and fixes her with a look very much like one the Doctor would give her if he were trying to tell her to spare a life. "He doesn't deserve to live," River argues, glaring at the man. "Maybe. But who are you to decide?" Ari challenges, standing up straight and crossing her arms. "Too much like your father," River says decisively and Ari gives a small smile.

But, the woman lowers her gun and sighs. "Thank you," Ari says.

After a fast trip to the Time Agency to drop off Clandestine so he can be formally charged, the Doctor brings River back to Stormcage with some reluctance. Ari hugs her mother tightly and River chuckles, embracing her back before they detach themselves and River gives the Doctor a wink that manages to be positively _obscene _and exits the TARDIS with a dramatic swish of her dress.

So… where to next?" Ari asks, shivering in her still wet clothes. "Take a break for now. Go pick out a bedroom, if you like." the Doctor says, waving her off. Then, he searches her in the TARDIS data base, still unsure how he didn't know he had a child. How River had successfully hidden the girl from him.

The TARDIS doesn't disappoint, giving him all of the information she can scrounge up.  
><strong>Name: Arkytior Jessica Pond-Song<br>Birth: 9-7-5284 on Elysia VII  
>Father: "The Doctor"<br>Mother: Melody Pond "River Song"  
>Species: GallifreyanHuman**

On and on the information went, giving him names of dozens of foster homes and teachers and schools. Her grades were spectacular, obviously, but her behavior left something to be desired. She's been written up enough times to be comical and notes concerning her coming from social workers included the words "troubled", "uncooperative", "problematic", "disrespectful" and scores of other things that made the Doctor wonder exactly what was done to her.

She seems to be intelligent and curious, but overall reserved, barely able to make eye contact when they first met and more than once unwilling to answer even simple questions. So she didn't strike him as the type to be problematic or to be given detentions.

But still, it doesn't answer his question on how she even exists. Time Lords aren't compatible with anything, on Gallifrey, children were created using genetic looms. How is she even here? It's nagging at the Doctor more than he would like, and there are other concerns. River hid her for a reason, for Ari's safety and the Doctor's. He now has a weakness that changes everything. A daughter, another one of his kind, and ultimately a liability. He has too many enemies to count and if her existence gets out, they will be fighting each other and the Doctor to lay a hand, tentacle, plunger, whatever on her.


	3. Silver Moon

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, but here it is. Turns out, the chapter got too long and had to be split into two parts, the next one is probably going to be shorter and should be up in today or tomorrow. For those of you reading this, it means you've made it all the way to chapter 3, you go! I swear on my first born child and left pinky finger- my favorite finger, FYI- that it will pick up the pace soon. But I'm trying to follow the rules of story development and snowball this baby. You understand. Anyway, on with he show. **

Ari finds a room she likes and sets herself up, the TARDIS helpfully putting the wardrobe and the library near by. It's spacious but still cozy, a bed with blue sheets and comforter against the back wall, the windows showing a simulation of a gray sky with lightly pattering rain. The carpet is soft and a dull gold color, a scarlet settee and forest green over-stuffed loveseat are crammed in the corner next to three heavy oak bookshelves. There's a desk and a wardrobe and a walk in bathroom and closet.

A feeling of exhaustion is pulling on her frayed edges, as if she's a sweater that's starting to unravel. Running from shadows, changing species and nearly drowning might do that to a person. There's a knock on her door and she looks up from organizing the books she's collected. "Enter at your own risk," Ari calls and the Doctor wanders in, looking worried. There's a crease between his eyebrows and his head is ducked down. He always ducks his head and hunches his shoulders when he talks to her, as if trying to compensate for her lack of height and his over-abundance.

"Arkytior," he says. "Come again?" she asks, standing and looking up into his face. "That's your name," the Doctor informs her, like she should know this. Her name, perhaps she should, but she didn't even know her own species a day ago.

"No wonder River never told me. Hard to be inconspicuous with a name like Arkytior." she remarks and the Doctor laughs. "Time Lord name." the Doctor informs her. "And I'm a Time Lord, yeah? There isn't any sort of right of passage I should be aware of?" Ari challenges, yawning at the end of her sentence. "None I'm willing to talk about now." The Doctor says, thinking about how if Ari were born on Gallifrey, she would've been taken from home, stuck into the Prydonian Academy and taught the secrets of time.

"So, River's in jail?" Ari asks, rising to her feet, her dress dried and stiff now. "Yes. It's complicated. She is a psychopath engineered to kill me, and she thought she did kill me. Time stopped and we got married and then she shot this machine with little people inside of it that was made to look like me. She was obviously arrested afterwards." The Doctor says and Ari just nods noncommittally. "A story for another time," the Doctor concludes, smiling kindly at her.

He notes her tired eyes and downcast gaze, fiddling with the hem of her dress. The Doctor isn't usually one for sleeping, he'd much rather stay up running or tinkering with the TARDIS or jabbering nonsense to anyone who'll listen. But, he sends her to bed with some reluctance and resigns himself to being bored for the next six hours at least. Well, not bored, necessarily, just still. Reading about the anomalous girl in his TARDIS, trying to wheedle some answers out of River, perhaps. When she's younger, that's when she's most likely to tell him.

For seven long hours the Doctor stoops in front of the monitor, reading all of the information the TARDIS is willing to give. It's apparent some things are missing which may have something to do with the state of River and the Doctor's time lines, but still there's nothing to shed light on the girl sleeping down the hall.

But then, Ari wanders in, dressed in a casual black sweater and blue skinny jeans, red Converse laced onto her feet, two bobby pins poking out of her mouth as she twists a piece of her hair back and out of her face. "Hello," she says, muffled by the hair accessory between her teeth. "Have you found anywhere that is in dire need of rescuing, yet?" she asks, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "I don't go looking for trouble. It goes looking for me." he casts her a wink as her nose wrinkles in distaste.

"So, not a lot of downtime, then?" Ari guesses. The Doctor shakes his head thoughtfully. He's never really noticed.

"But for now, how about a moon base?" The Doctor asks, fiddling with the TARDIS. "A moon base?" Ari repeats. "Of course. 2050, first civilian-friendly moon base. The very rich and the very smart set up shop there to run the most prestigious science facility to date," the Doctor smiles widely.

"What for?" Ari asks, not seeing the importance of a science facility. "For knowledge," the Doctor raises a scholarly finger. "About what?" Ari leans in the console next to him, watching carefully what he's doing and the buttons he presses. He doesn't answer, just casts her a glance.

He's friends with one of the scientists working there, who also happens to be a very gifted empathic psychic. If Ari is anything the Doctor shouldn't trust, that woman will sniff it out in a second. Whether with her empathic abilities or scientific ones.

"So, Artemis Research Center, ARC for short." The Doctor announces grandly, pulling a lever and the TARDIS is sent into flight with a strong jerk. As they rattle through time and space, Ari clutches onto the railing tightly, watching the Doctor spin around the console with glee. "Is there some sort of test you have to pass to fly this thing?" she calls. "Of course," the Doctor replies. "Did you fail?" she asks. He laughs and doesn't say anything, but the manic enthusiasm says it all.

"There's really supposed to be eight pilots," he says. That reminds Ari of something. River never mentioned much about the Doctor's past, just that he was lonely. A machine meant for seven more pilots than there are, and the Doctor seems to be actively avoiding any sort of talk about his own planet.

They land, and Ari files the thought away into the back of her mind, ignoring it as the Doctor stops her from walking out of the TARDIS. "Wait. We're outside. Probably in need of a space suit." he reminds her and she grins as he goes running down a corridor, returning a few minutes later holding two space suits and helmets of an atrocious orange hue. "Do they really need to be such an obnoxious color?" Ari asks, wrinkling her nose.

"I think it brings out my eyes," the Doctor chirps. The word "giddy" comes to mind when you observe his current mental state. Ari widens her eyes and rolls them around as if trying to see the color of them, knowing they're the same shade of green as his and simply shakes her head. When he gives her one of the suits, she holds it up and the Doctor shoots her an apologetic look. "Too big. I don't have suits for short people," he explains. "Hey, just means I'm better at hiding than you, all flailing limbs and loud monologue explanations," she says as he flaps his arms around, trying to straighten the sleeves of his suit and do up the straps at the same time.

Eventually, they both buckle, zip, tie and click everything into place, Ari flexing her fingers in the gloves that are a bit big. The Doctor taps the top of her helmet as if checking to see if it works and opens the TARDIS door, wandering out. Ari follows and giggles as she gains more bounce, bounding rather than walking over the surface of the moon. She stops and turns around, looking out at the Earth.

"There's a beautiful Earth out tonight," she jokes. The Doctor laughs, then pulls her along by the oversized glove, heading for a gray structure. It looks like a labyrinth, a network of tunnels with low ceilings set into the skin of the satellite. Like an ant hive.

"Here we are. You can barely see it from Earth. That's why it's the color it is." The Doctor explains, looking at the green and blue planet out far away from them. The Doctor presses a button on the side of a heavy automated sliding door and it opens, allowing them in. The room they emerge in glows red until a great gust of air bursts around them and it glows green.

"It's safe," the Doctor says, twisting and pulling his helmet off of his head. He helps Ari with hers and the rest of their suits just as the door opens, revealing two people in gray overalls, an insignia on their breast pockets, wielding guns as if unsure of what to do with them. "Hello," the Doctor says amiably. Ari just waves as a woman with short hair and a sharply angled face speaks up, pursing her heart shaped lips.

"Who're you?" she asks, sounding slightly intimidating. "I'm the Doctor, that's Ari. We've come to visit a friend," the Doctor explains, pushing the gun out of his face casually, the woman simply watching him incredulously. "We're on the moon," she argues as the Doctor and Ari pass her and her partner, walking into the main building and navigating the first long hallway with ease.

"Are we? I hadn't noticed." the Doctor rolls his eyes at Ari comically. "You can't just come around for a visit! We're on the moon, not exactly a trip to the shops," the woman protests, looking flustered. "Speak for yourself," the Doctor says. "But-" she begins again, only to be cut off by a new voice. "Doctor!" a clear, tinkling voice calls from a little ahead of them. It comes from a woman with blonde hair tied into a bun and a lab coat worn over cargo pants and a gray polo shirt.

"Dr. Kim Jenner," the Doctor states, strolling towards her, arms open for a hug and a wide smile on his face. Ari stands by, but Dr. Jenner notices the Doctor's anxiety, pulling back to give him a meaningful look before looking at Ari, the obvious source of unease. "Hello," she says to the teenager, who smiles. "Hi," she takes the offered hand, allowing Kim to get a quick but in-depth read on her. "Kim, this is Ari. Ari, Dr. Kim Jenner," the Doctor says distractedly.

Kim looks between them and frowns slightly. She's an empathic psychic and can read the general emotional makeup of anyone she comes across, close to mind reading. But, she can also sense intent and sees that the Doctor's is a dark cloud over his head, hidden from Ari. The teenager seems simply confused, inquisitive to say the least. There's also a general distrust towards everyone. Not just the Doctor, it's just an overall wary outlook.

"What brings you?" Kim asks, hoping the Doctor wouldn't be stupid enough to lie to her. "I've heard about the disappearances, just dropping by to see if I can help," he disappoints her. He has heard of the disappearances of scientists and civilians from the ARC base, but that isn't why he's here.

"Disappearances? We're on the moon," Ari protests. "So glad you've noticed," the Doctor replies, not really looking at her, because he's distracted. Of course, he'll help in any way he can with the disappearing people, as is his usual MO, but he still has another pressing matter. He needs to speak with Kim Jenner on the matter of his apparent daughter.

No time for that now, though, because Angelina will not be ignored any longer. "Excuse me! Who the hell are you and how the hell did you get here? I want answers now!" She shouts, waving her gun carelessly.

Kim turns toward her, looking annoyed, but Ari smiles at her. "I'm Ari, this is the Doctor. He's from another planet and I'm from 2014," she grins at the stunned expression on the woman's face. "Happy?" Angelina nods mutely and puts her gun away. And then a radio on her belt buzzes.

"All personnel report to the Dome, all personnel please report." It announces in a tinny voice. "What's the Dome?" Ari asks, following after the three adults at a nearly uncomfortably fast pace to keep up with their brisk feet moving farther into the labyrinth. "The Dome is at the very center of the base. It's where we go when we all need to be in one place. It's a cafeteria, meeting center, shelter, everything." Jenner says.

"There are civilians living here as well, right?" she looks to the Doctor, who nods. "Only some of the sponsors. Big business people who want to see money well spent and their families," the male guard says. He's short and stout, less walking and more waddling ahead of her. Eventually, they reach the Dome and Ari looks up, then spins in a circle while advancing forward toward the growing crowd in the center of the room.

The Dome is enormous, stretching impossibly high into the air and reaching a circumference of epic proportions. There are tables and a cafeteria with vendors' tables where the citizens might have normally gotten their lunch, a fountain with a marble statue of a woman in a long flowing dress, pinned together at the shoulders and pointing a long bow with an arrow notched into it, as if getting ready to shoot Ari down. "Artemis. Greek goddess of the hunt and moon." the Doctor says to Ari quietly. She looks at the marble face, blank eyes and perfectly carved hair blowing behind her in an invisible breeze as water pours out around her. She's too feminine. No one could hunt in a dress like that.

A vast crowd of people wearing lab coats, uniforms and the odd plain-clothed civilian gathers around a small stage, looking up at the shining wooden podium in the center of it with a microphone attached. The Doctor, Ari, Dr. Kim Jenner, Angelina and her partner all slip into the crowd, standing near the back where the stragglers are shuffling around, trying to see. There has to be a thousand people, easily. More, probably. It's a large base.

No one pays them much attention, and the Doctor counts. There are too few people for a base this size, but there's something else. Not visible, but he can smell and taste it on the back of his tongue, something off. Metallic. Not from the walls, but in the air. All around them. Buzzing with life. He's seen it before, he knows what it is, but his brain refuses to think properly. He's distracted, not in the good way where he's able to multitask, in the consuming way that renders him unable to think of anything else. Infuriatingly, stupidly _human _of him, he thinks. He hasn't been so vexed by a girl since River. At least, once explained, River was possible. But nothing could present itself to the Doctor that would make Ari's existence even _plausible. _

He swore he'd never have children again. He tore that part of himself free of his soul and locked it out, throwing away the key.

Maybe, he thought before coming here, maybe Kim with her powerful psychic powers would be able to shed some light on what Ari is. A machine, a trick, a trap? She can reach into people's hearts and pull out their identities, each and every person one may pretend to be crumbles before her. Empathic psychics can only see the truth, which is why they so often lie to themselves.

The Doctor is a powerful enough telepath, admittedly a bit rusty. He could've gone into her head if he really wanted to, but telepathy is a lot less subtle and therefore much more intrusive. And brains are tricky, he could end up seriously harming her.

He's pulled from his thoughts by a tug on his sleeve. He looks down at the small hand with chipped black nail polish wrapped around his tweed jacket, then up into the face of its young owner. Ari nods towards the horde of people and he notices that many of them are staring at them. Of course, even with a population this large, after a while of being on the moon alone together, the humans would know who is who and maybe be able to identify if there are strangers among them. And being unfamiliar is not in their favor, considering the circumstances.

He lifts the hand not held captive by Ari and gives an awkward little wave. Niceties ease tension, don't they? Ari stares at him and he thinks that maybe he was wrong. But, the staring doesn't last long. A man ascends the steps onto the small stage, more like a platform, and taps the microphone near his mouth to get the attention of everyone.

"That's Octavius Williams. He's the leader of the base. He gives us the highest funds, he's the one that got us here," the short guard whispers. "Attention, everyone, attention. I have an announcement to make. Three more people have gone missing," he says in an appropriately grave voice. Murmurs ripple throughout the crowd and people gives Ari and the Doctor more anxious glances.

Octavius Williams notices them too and falters as he begins to speak again, but flashes a calm smile to make up for it, addressing the frightened citizens once again. "There is now a curfew in effect at 8 in the evening and I want guards patrolling every sector from now until those people are found. Please, don't go out alone and don't let your children wander. Thank you," he says, stepping off of the podium and making his way through the crowd, toward the Doctor and Ari.

"And who might you be?" he asks amiably, but his eyes are guarded and his expression skeptical. "I'm the Doctor and this is Ari. We're just here visiting Dr. Jenner," the Doctor says, smiling. "Visiting? How did you arrive? Where is your ship?" Octavius demands. "Parked in your broom cupboard." the Doctor tells him. The man stares at him in a state of shock and indignation. "This is not a time for laughter, sir. There are people disappearing and you just arrive here unauthorized." he exclaims. "Unauthorized. I have the highest authorization in the world. And it's not _sir. _Just the Doctor," the Doctor replies, unfazed.

"What authorization?" Octavius demands. "Mine," the alien informs him, smiling and then pulling his sonic screwdriver out of his inner pocket, scanning around. "What's that?" Octavius asks expectantly. "Scientific instrument." the Doctor says.

The man looks ready to say something else, but is shushed by Kim. "Dr. Jenner, you know these people?" Octavius says, shocked. "Very well. They're not behind the kidnappings, I assure you. They only just arrived today." She says, nodding. "About an hour ago, if that," Ari adds. The Doctor puts his screwdriver away, huffing dejectedly as he does so. "Nothing?" Ari asks sympathetically. "There's definitely something," the Doctor mumbles.

"The moon doesn't have any life, does it? No native species or anything?" Ari inquires. Octavius scoffs, but the Doctor looks thoughtful. "Nothing this early in time would be able to kidnap humans," he decides, much to Octavius' surprise.

"There's nothing around with any sort of malevolent intent. I've been searching for days, but it's all quiet," Kim adds helpfully. "What do you mean?" Ari asks. "Dr. Jenner is an empathic psychic. They can sense the emotions and intent of those around them." the Doctor explains. "My condolences," Ari remarks dryly, knowing she'd hate to know what people were thinking all of the time. Especially with her background.

A light, careless voice calls from behind them. "Dad," it says and they all turn to see a teenage girl taller and maybe a little older than Ari with her hair held away from her face with a bandana, her hands tucked into the pockets of her pale yellow skirt hanging down to her feet, a black cropped tee shirt revealing her midriff. Octavius smiles at the girl. "Tia," he says and she smiles at the Doctor and Ari, much more welcoming than the others have been. "I'm Tia Williams," she says, holding her hand out for the Doctor and Ari to shake.

"Hi," Ari says, taking her hand and shaking, not missing the wink Tia passes her. Tia is Octavius's daughter and she's ill. Her hair isn't held out of her face, her hair is hidden because the white blonde strands are thin and cut short, her bones delicate in her hand, as if made of glass. She walks quietly in the way only the very sick can and her face is gaunt, stretched over her sharp cheekbones, her silvery eyes large in her face. It was noticeable immediately when they first shook hands and a large eye in a small face winked at Ari, but as the hours stretch on in the Dome, sitting at a table, it becomes even more apparent.

Octavius, the Doctor and Kim try to come up with suggestions of what's hunting the humans while Ari and Tia talk quietly. "So, you're a time traveller," Tia says, grinning to herself. "Yes. Well, it's only been two days. But still," Ari nods. "And an alien," Tia giggles, covering her mouth. "Also a fairly new development. I seem to have turned over a new leaf of my life," Ari jokes, earning a high pitched laugh. Tia can only look at the two newcomers in amazement. Time travel and aliens. Her father did promise her wonders when he moved them to the base. He funds the project for her, she knows. He wants to get a cure for her, to save her. The first time they saw the surface of the moon and the Earth in the distance, they cried. Tia thought it was beautiful, but her father saw it as redemption. Here, he would save her like he couldn't save her mother.

"I'd love to see a different time," Tia says wistfully. "I remember Earth, but we came here when I was eight, half of my life has been spent on the moon. The only things I remember is the noise, the crowds everywhere you went. The smoggy sky, even when it was sunny it was gray. Too many people, too much pollution. That's what Dad said the trouble was. But I think I miss it." she explains. Ari nods thoughtfully. One trip couldn't hurt, right?

She gazes absently over Tia's shoulder and sees a shadow of what may have been a person standing in the corner of the Dome, at the wall closest to them. Only, it was odd. Shaped strangely. "Doctor," she says, but her father waves her off, in the middle of a conversation. "Doctor," she tries again, speaking more forcefully. "Yes, what is it?" he asks, raising his eyes to hers briefly. "Over there," she nods in the direction of the (possible) person and the Doctor glances over. Then, he looks again.

"Ah," he says, nodding to himself. Then, he rises to his feet and looks around anxiously. "Run," he decides and takes off for the door as if to demonstrate, the others following after he pauses to allow them to get in front. Ari grabs Tia's hand and sprints off, falling to the back of the group, the Doctor urging them forward. Difficult to gain speed with such short legs and a terminally ill person racing behind you.

"What is it?" Ari asks, glancing over her shoulder at the Doctor and then past him at the creature which is marching after them at an eerily fast pace, its movements conservative and mechanical. "Cyberman," he gasps. Ari remembers the Cybermen. When she was around seven, they were there, invading her home. Along with the Daleks. They appeared more than once. Her foster parents had been taken, then. Taken by the Cybermen.

"How many people have gone missing?" the Doctor asks Kim. "20," she replies, her eyes shining with anxiety, but not necessarily fear. "Enough to destroy everyone in this base." the Doctor says grimly. He looks to Angelina. "Sound an alarm. Tell people, do something," he says, running easily while speaking. He's had a lot of practice.

Angelina speaks frantically into her communicator and sirens blare, an automated voice calling mandatory curfew and ordering all residents to stay in their quarters. By this time the Cyberman has been joined by three of his friends and are firing shots at them, each blaze of blue light flying past their heads, narrowly missing.

Finally, Tia's hand is ripped from Ari's and as she falls behind, she is hit between the shoulder blades and drops with a cry. Ari stops automatically and she looks to the girl lying on the ground. Her pale eyes open, her mouth gaping in shock. Ari goes to turn back, trying to run to the fallen girl, but the Doctor grabs her arm and yanks her forward. "There's nothing we can do," he shouts, pulling her into a run and swinging inside a room after the other four. He shoves her inside and she stumbles a good distance, the Doctor slamming the door and sonicing it locked.

Both Octavius and Ari are going for the locked door, but they're quickly restrained from exiting the room, the echoing steps of the Cybermen can be heard from right outside. "She's gone, she's gone," the Doctor says, arm wrapped around her waist and holding her away from the door while the two guards and Dr. Jenner hold Octavius back. He's shouting for Tia.

"There's nothing we could do?" Ari yells at the Doctor, turning on him and shoving his hands away from her. "She was dead before she hit the floor," the Doctor says quietly. "Don't you think I know that? She was dead long before we met her. She's has been dead as long as she has been sick. She was always going to get sick, suffer and die," she pauses and takes a breath, "There is always something we can do."

Octavius stops fighting and drops to his knees, his face crumpling like a piece of wet paper as he drops his head into his hands. Dr. Jenner goes with him, keeping her hand on his back and a pained expression is etched onto her face. His pain, her pain, everyone's pain at the loss of life can be seen plainly in her eyes. The male guard clears his throat. "She didn't suffer, sir. Her death would've been instantaneous," he says. Ari goes to Octavius and sends the guard a glare. "What's your name?" she asks, kneeling next to Octavius where he's folded into himself. "Uh, James," he says sheepishly. "James, shut up."

The Doctor looks around the room to see it's a security room, live feed from every camera showing on screens attached to the far wall. There's a rolling chair and a table with a fresh pot of coffee sitting on it. And kneeling on the floor are two sorrowful humans and one angry hybrid. Anger, the Doctor finds, is a much more productive emotion than sorrow. It burns more than it hurts and it allows you to get things done.

"What do we do about the Cybermen?" the hybrid looks at the Doctor. "Thinking," he replies, pacing. "How did they get here?" Kim asks, leaving Octavius's side. "Might've crashed. Might've parked. But where are they hiding? The entire satellite is being surveyed for any movement, any life. How did they go undetected?" the Doctor mumbles, mostly to himself.

"They're not alive. They're just metal and what used to be human brains. But anything remotely human about them was washed out and they became monsters through the absence of anything else." Ari says bitterly. The Doctor casts her a curious glance and she meets his gaze unblinkingly. It's the sort of intense look that unnerves you, like the person looking is thinking something and by making eye contact you're intruding on a thought you may have not wanted to see in the first place.

"They can't get to Earth," Kim decides. She knows why the base is on the moon. They research some of the most dangerous diseases in the world to find a cure. If something happens, the moon will be quarantined. Easy to do, nobody goes up, no one goes down, and the people living in the base are left to die. They could call quarantine and never see the Earth again. Never be able to help people again.

"They won't. I promise you, they won't get to Earth." the Doctor swears. The Doctor rummages around in his pockets for a few moments, before coming out with a green blob that squishes in his hand. It reminds Ari of Flubber. "Here we go," he says, grinning. "What is it?" Ari asks. "Unstable atomic material from this little planet in the Whurt Constellation. It can become anything you want, it'll fit your every need. So, with a bit of tinkering…" he sonics it and then pulls it apart, "it becomes explosive."

"Thneed, for every need," Ari whispers in amusement. "Made from the Truffula trees," the Doctor agrees, winking at her. He then pulls it into four different pieces and hands them around, stuffing one back into his pocket and frowning when Octavius simply shakes his head. "Tia is gone. What's the point?" he says dismally. "The point, Octavius WIlliams, is that there are other daughters out there. On this base, there are hundreds. On the planet below, there are billions. And they all depend on you to save them right now. Because if you don't, the Cybermen will get to them like they got to Tia. Take pity on them." Ari says solemnly.

"We're going to go out and follow the Cybermen. Blow them up." the Doctor announces. "Why don't I have a blower-upper?" Ari asks, frowning at him. "Because you're staying here," the Doctor answers, giving her a look that says not to argue. "I am not," she retorts, annoyed. "You are. You're fourteen, I'm not going to allow you to go out and commit a genocide," he says, crossing his arms and staring her down.

"They're not even alive," she argues and the Doctor scowls, but doesn't reply. Because for all of his doubts and uncertainties about her, the fact that she can't exist, the fact that he came here to find out if she was a trick, he can't shake that feeling of… _responsibility. _The horror. Fatherly responsibility that makes him cringe because _no _he doesn't do that anymore. He isn't a father. He's a monster. He made that decision a very long time ago.

She glares holes into him and flops into the spinning chair, crossing her arms unhappily. Her silent surrender. The rest of them file out and Ari watches them pass through the hallways on the live feed, the Doctor leading the way and huffs to herself.

She sits in the chair, utterly bored and anxious- the worst kind of combination- for a good hour. Then, there's the unmistakable sound of metal feet pounding a tiled floor and the door bursts open, swinging in and popping off of its hinges as a Cyberman enters, eyes set on Ari. She scrambles to her feet, but there's nowhere to run.

"You will be upgraded," it announces, but then looks at her a moment longer. "You have an unknown upgrade. You will be taken in for testing." by this Ari assumes it means her alien parts are problematic to them.

Without any further words, the Cyberman lifts her up and tosses her over his shoulder while she kicks and shouts, trying to free herself in the hallway. It doesn't work, the Cyberman has an advantage of height, weight, strength and immunity to pain over her. They stomp down long corridors and through sections of the base which are deserted because of the mandatory curfew in place.

Finally, they reach a dead end, but the Cyberman keeps walking. They meander straight through the wall and end up in a completely different setting, a… spaceship? Ari looks around and sees a control center, sparking and damaged beyond what would be considered possible repair. And there in the middle of all of the rubble of the destroyed ship stands the Doctor and his group, his mouth open as if he was in mid-sentence when the Cyberman appeared with Ari, her kicking and shouting interrupting him. He murmurs what was actually a very rude Gallifreyan expletive, but luckily no one speaks the language but him.

The Cyberman drops Ari and shoves her into the group, the Doctor catching her and holding her wrist tightly, pulling her next to him. "What do you not understand about staying put?" the Doctor whispers. "It wasn't my fault. I was forcefully dragged away," Ari complains.

"The female child possesses an unknown upgrade," the Cyberman explains to his friends. The Doctor heaves an aggravated sigh and glares at the Cybermen. "Where are the rest of them?" Ari asks suddenly. "What?" Kim asks from behind her. "Well, 20 people have gone missing. There are only six in here right now," Ari says, looking around. "Surprisingly good point. Where are the rest of you?" The Doctor asks the Cybermen.

"There are no others." A Cyberman replies. "But you've taken a score of humans." Octavius argues. "There are no others," the creature insists. The Doctor looks around, examining the wreckage and fizzing pieces of broken technology all around him. "You don't have the power," he says. Everyone turns to look at him. "You don't have the power to upgrade. Or at least not many at once. Maybe one or two in all. You need more of you to repair the ship, but you don't have the power to upgrade more into your kind. So you store them somewhere." the Doctor says and pulls out his sonic screwdriver.

He begins to spin in a circle and scan for human life, but before he can make it a quarter of the way around, there's a shot like a warning and then a Cyberman aims its arm at Ari while the others march forward, barring the humans back and singling out the girl. She yelps when she's shoved despite herself, stumbling over her own feet and finding herself in a crowd of Cybermen. "Doctor," she shouts, startled.

"Scans show genetic similarities. Sentiment is a weakness we will use to our advantage." Cybermen are usually all about eradicating weakness to upgrade people, but today they are too desperate and too weak for that. "Doctor," she repeats, but the Cybermen are already moving, forcing her back and farther into the ship, away from the Doctor.


	4. Space Oddity

**A/N: New chapter, as promised. To all of my American readers, happy Thanksgiving! A holiday that celebrates European invasion and culture forced upon unsuspecting Native Americans by eating turkey! Also, a bit of housekeeping, I'm going to be launching a Supernatural thing, soon. Still working out all of the kinks for it, though. If you're into that, check out my profile in a few days, it might be up by then. Read on!**

Ari struggles and jumps, trying to get back to the Doctor and the others, but it doesn't work. She's no match for three Cybermen and the other three are dealing with her group, restraining them while the Doctor yells, trying to reason with the metal men. She's forced into a room and a steel door is locked behind her. Her breath ghosts out in front of her, passing frozen lips as her skin breaks out into goosebumps.

It's dimly lit, but the room is filled with small cases, the fronts made of glass and fogged over from the cold. Venturing towards them, she sees the faces of humans with closed eyes faced out at her. There are lights flashing their physical condition and heart rate. The words _cryogenic chamber _come to mind when Ari thinks about it. The humans are put into a coma and kept close to frozen to preserve them. Until the Cybermen can upgrade them. She searches the faces and sees one that shocks her. Lying in one of the chambers is Tia Williams, her heart rate shown above her, her chest heaving softly with her breath, very much alive.

"Tia," Ari exclaims, looking at the buttons beside the door curiously, before pressing a green one tentatively and the door swooshes open with a hiss. Tia gasps and her eyes flutter open, looking around wildly before her eyes land on Ari's face. "Hi," Ari breathes. "What happened?" Tia asks, sitting up and looking around. "The Cybermen stunned you. They plan to upgrade you, but they don't have the energy now. The Doctor, your dad and the others are going to try and blow them up, but they can't because we're still here." Ari explains hurriedly, looking around for a way out or a weapon of some sort.

"Blow them up?" Tia wonders, climbing out of the cryo chamber and helping Ari in her search. "Long story," Ari agrees, pulling on a handle of the now empty casket to see if it'll come off. "Think we could kick the door down?" Tia asks, eyeing the steel reinforced door doubtfully. "Oh, sure, let me just get my battering ram." Ari scoffs. "How else are we going to get out of here?" Tia asks, placing her hands on her hips.

"Before we escape, we need a plan. We're useless if we just get out for the heck of it," Ari reasons, "We need a weapon or something."

"LIke what? A big red button that says _Press to Combust Cyberpersons _on the top?" Tia mutters, but looks all the same.

"Well, this room is used for conversions. See the booths?" Ari gestures to the small closed off areas to their left. "They have to have pieces of Cybermen in here." she concludes, wandering over towards them. She opens a door and sees the pieces of what would seem to be surgical equipment, along with bits of metal. And in the next one, there's half of a helmet, some wiring, and an arm. "Hey!" Ari calls Tia over. "If we could get this hand to work, we could take the Cybermen by surprise." she says.

The Doctor keeps shouting after Ari disappears from sight, then glares at the Cybermen. Kim places a hand on his arm to warn him away from doing anything stupid. They're stuck. Can't blow up a ship with living humans on it, can't get them out without trying to take down six Cybermen. "What do you want from us? You won't upgrade them, you would've already taken them? What is this for?" the Doctor asks, feigning carelessness. "You will repair the ship." a Cyberman says. "Pardon?" the Doctor clears his throat, staring at the Cyberman in shock.

"You will repair the Cybership. You will help the Cybermen," it repeats itself. "And if he refuses?" Octavius asks. "The girl perishes," the Cyberman says, like it's obvious. She's not useful to them, anyway. "You would kill her?" Angelina asks, shocked. She's never dealt with Cybermen before. She doesn't know what they're capable of.

Ari is an anomaly, she isn't to be trusted, for sure, but she isn't worth the risk of calling the Cybermen's bluff. They never bluff. "Fine." the Doctor consents and Kim jumps to help him as he's allowed to the main console. He sifts around through the mess and looks at the shot wires, busted panels and fried circuitry. There's no way to repair this. That's never stopped him. "What's troubling you?" Kim asks, holding an end up for him while he ducks down under the console. "Now? You want to do this now?" he looks up at her. "We may be dead later," Kim returns, "Better relieve your conscience to me now, Doctor."

He sighs and aims his sonic screwdriver at something. "Ari." he says simply, tugging at a red wire. "Obviously. A dolt could have figured that one out, Doctor. What about her?" she asks. As far as Kim can tell, Ari is just a girl. The Doctor glances at her, but only offers a piece of metal as an answer, motioning for her to hold onto it for him. She takes it and doesn't pry. This sort of thing takes time.

Ari and Tia eye their weapon thoughtfully. Ari successfully strapped it onto her arm and can wiggle the fingers, using pressure on certain cords inside like tendons. Everything about the Cybermen is artificial, if you have any basic knowledge of the human system you'd be able to figure out what makes a Cyberman tick. "How do you shoot?" Tia asks tentatively. "Could be a trigger. There are some loose wires in here, by the fingers." Ari says, tugging on them experimentally.

There's a strong blast and she falls backwards, the wall in front of her scorched. "Found the trigger." she rubs her back with her free hand, standing up. "Yeah. Think they heard that?" Tia agrees. "Nah. They're probably busy." Ari lies. Tia grabs her sleeve, suddenly nervous. "I should do it." she blurts. "Why's that?" Ari arches a dark eyebrow. "Well, there are a bunch of Cybermen and we've only got one arm. If something goes wrong, you're toast. I should shoot at them because it's not like I've got long, anyway," she gestures to herself, "There's never going to be any cure." she mumbles. "Never say never." Ari says. _There's always something you can do. _

"C'mon, Ari. I'm not stupid. I know there's nothing to be done." Tia gives Ari sad steel colored eyes. "Tia, my father and I got here using time and space travel. Never say never. There's always something. Now get out of the way." Ari doesn't know whether her father will be able to save Tia for sure, but they can at least give her the ride of a lifetime.

"Is there something… off about her? Anything at all?" the Doctor asks Kim and she widens her eyes. "Of course not. She's just a girl," her sentence is cut off by a mighty blast coming from down the corridor to their left. They both look expectantly and a few moments later, small footsteps can be heard travelling towards them. Not a Cyberman's. Suddenly, Ari appears in the doorway and with a flash of light, one of the Cybermen falls to the ground.

Even more surprising than her Cyberarm is the taller girl behind her, a bandana covering her head and her eyes falling onto Octavius immediately. "Tia," he breathes, running for his daughter, but is stopped by Ari, using a much more powerful voice than the Doctor's ever heard come from her mouth. "Down!" she shouts and Octavius drops along with Angelina and James. She shoots another Cyberman and a third one. Only three left, all of them shooting her. Tia grabs a piece of the console, a ripped panel and heaves it up, holding onto it like a makeshift shield in front of herself and Ari, Ari ducking out from behind it to return fire while the others stand there, hiding and forgotten about. Ari's aim isn't great, but she's faster than the Cybermen.

She shoots down two more, only leaving one to go. It advances, dodging Ari's shots until it's right on top of them. The Doctor rises to his feet and throws a cylinder at its head from the panel next to him. It turns and Ari shoots it right in the back. Tia drops the metal slab to the ground, her fingers cut from its jagged edges and runs to her father, falling into his arms. Ari watches, seemingly satisfied, and grins at the Doctor.

He moves over to her and tugs the Cyberarm off of her own freckled one, tossing it away. He inspect it for any sort of injury and smiles up at her reassuringly, like an actual doctor with his patient. "I'm fine." she informs him. She's right, barely got a scratch on her. Only one above her eye and a few dotted over the arm he's gripping in his hand. He hugs her briefly and glances back at Kim, still sitting on the floor. He offers a hand to help her up, giving her a look that says they're going to talk more later.

Tia walks over to Ari, a wide grin plastered onto her face. "So, Major Tom, going back to the stars?" she wiggles her eyebrows with a smirk, referencing a song that is about 80 years old, now. "Guess so. But, I if the planets are aligned correctly, I may foresee a certain Earthling coming along on an epic adventure. What say you, father?" Ari turns to the Doctor who sighs, knowing he won't win if he says no. Not that he really wants to anyway.

After a quick discussion with Octavius, assuring him there'd be no dangerous goings ons or possible alien invasions where they're going, Tia is allowed onto the TARDIS. They moonwalk to it, Tia looking at the small blue exterior doubtfully, but then the Doctor pushes open the door. They step in, remove their helmets and Tia gapes, spinning in a circle, looking around and up and down at the inside.

"A little out of your depth, Ground Control?" Ari teases as Tia swallows, turning her eyes back to the aliens in front of her. "I-it's bigger…" she gestures around, eyes wide as dinner plates. "On the inside. Yes, I've noticed." the Doctor winks at her. "Now, Tia Williams, this is it, one trip is all you get. Where do you wanna go?" the Doctor asks. She opens her mouth, then closes it again, allowing an excited grin to capture her lips. "Choose wisely," the Doctor spins around the console, "We could go to the future, the past. A different planet. A different galaxy. I try to avoid different universes whenever possible, mind you."

"I wanna go somewhere that doesn't have smoke in the sky. I wanna go somewhere open, green and clean. No pollution. No overly crowded populace. Somewhere the stars aren't obscured by smog." she says quietly. "Earth?" the Doctor asks. "Yeah." she nods. The Doctor flies them shakily off of the moon and into the Time Vortex, the TARDIS rattling and shuddering, nearly throwing them all off of their feet.

"Is this supposed to happen?" Tia cries in alarm, clinging to the console for support. "Don't ask me, I just got here." Ari shrugs. They land with a crash, the floor shaking and Ari topples over, landing on the glass floor directly on her tailbone. Tia helps her up with a laugh, her gray eyes shining with a joke and holds onto Ari's hand a second longer than necessary.

The Doctor pulls the door open for them and smiles widely, motioning for them to go ahead of them with his head. "Oh," Tia breathes, looking up into the sky, "Oh, my god." The sky is clear of everything, save a few puffy white clouds. They're standing in a wide meadow with trees surrounding the edges miles away and the sun staring down brightly at them. "The freshest air you will ever breathe." the Doctor tells Tia and she inhales, taking in so much air that her chest constricts and aches. "Where are we?" Ari asks. "Earth. America, before Christopher Columbus was even a thought." the Doctor explains. Tia falls onto the ground, arms spread wide, eyes closed contentedly.

Ari smiles at her, but then turns to frown at the Doctor, a question he can practically see on her tongue through her closed lips. "We can't." he whispers, but Tia barely knows they're there. "Why not?" Ari asks. She had promised Tia a life, told her there was always something to be done. Why couldn't they just get her a cure?

"Because it wouldn't be fair." the Doctor says. "Less fair than her suffering through life and then dying in pain? Terminal illnesses are not gentle ways to go. She won't die in comfort." Ari argues. "We can't just help her. It wouldn't be fair to anyone else like her. She wouldn't want that, to cheat. And it's impossible. Her illness is a fixed thing in time." the Doctor says.

Ari scowls, turning back to look at Tia, who has opened her eyes to smile widely up at Ari. She returns it, but can't quite force the gesture into her eyes. "It's so… quiet." Tia mumbles, "I've never been this relaxed in my life. On the moon and on my Earth you can't escape the noise, the movement." Ari sits next to her and Tia swings into a sitting position, twisting to face her. Her skirt splayed out around her, she fiddles with the fabric, as if trying to word a thought.

"I know this is a one time deal. And I understand that there's nothing you can do for me medically. But I want you to know that I don't care. There is nothing you could possibly give that I could want more than this," she looks up into the sky, "It's so beautiful and you just saved the lives of everyone I know. Thank you." Tia says, looking from Ari to the Doctor. They both smile and nod, the same look of awkward discomfort pasted onto their faces at being thanked and Tia laughs at the similarity. "I think we should get back. If we stay too long, the memory might mean something different." Tia rises to her feet and pulls Ari up as well, unnecessarily.

They go back into the TARDIS and land back at the moonbase seconds after their departure. Octavius turns back with a frown, but smiles when his daughter emerges, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright, a large grin plastered onto her face. She sighs happily and throws her arms around him. The Doctor landed the TARDIS in the Dome and spies Kim sitting at a table, seemingly waiting for him. He ruffles Ari's hair and walks over, sitting next to her to talk. The psychic aims her calm brown eyes on his, imploring him to speak his mind.

"So… Ari." she prompts. "Arkytior." the Doctor corrects and Kim's eyes widen at the sound of the Gallifreyan name. "What is she?" the Doctor demands. "She's just a girl." Kim furrows her brow, confused. The Doctor didn't deal with a bunch of Cybermen just so he could be dismissed for his worries. "But what kind of girl? Specifically." he prompts, leaning back in his chair and eyeing Ari where she sits talking with Tia and Octavius.

"A girl. Very smart, quick on her feet. Stubborn. Very pretty," Kim says, admiring the similarities between Ari and a certain large-haired time traveller she knows. The Doctor knows her, too. "Tragic, also. A bit more scared than she'd ever admit." Kim adds, looking at the Doctor pointedly. "That's it?" the Doctor asks, annoyed. "What else could you want?" Kim gives him a perplexed look. "I don't want a child." the Doctor argues, rubbing his eyes. "A child is everything you need. A small piece of you, your wife. Children save, Doctor." Kim informs him gravely. "She's going to save me? Is that it?" the Doctor gives a humorless laugh. "That's the sort of girl she is, perhaps. Specifically. Your redemption. Of course, I can't know that for sure. I read emotions, not the future. I can't predict miracles." Kim crosses her arms and the Doctor scowls.

He rises to his feet and walks over to Ari, signalling for her to wrap up her conversation. She smiles at Tia and rises to her feet, Tia following the both of them back to the TARDIS. "So-" Ari begins to say, but is cut off when Tia crashes their lips together. It barely lasts three seconds, but Ari's expression of surprise is to die for. She blinks stupidly and clears her throat, trying to regain composure. "See ya around?" Tia clasps her hands in front of her. "I expect so." Ari nods and Tia cracks a grin, winking at her before skipping off back towards her father.

Ari shuffles into the TARDIS after the Doctor, who waves at the humans before closing the door. "Does that happen a lot? The whole kissing thing?" Ari asks and the Doctor shrugs awkwardly. "I'm sure it doesn't. I've not really noticed." he waves his hand dismissively. Ari turns away to examine a button on the console, but turns back to catch his brooding expression.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" she asks, walking towards him. "Like what?" he asks, averting his eyes, but the expression in them stays. "Like I'm some sort of science experiment that isn't acting like I should. Like I'm _wrong. _What's the matter?" she snaps. When the Doctor doesn't answer, she adds, "Do you not want me here?" so quietly he's not sure she even said it, but the look on her face says that she did. "Of course I do." the Doctor looks back into her face as he says it. "Okay. Then why do you look like you want to throw me into a supernova?" she inquires, leaning against the console next to him.

"Because I never thought you could possibly exist. I said I'd never have children again. And here you are." the Doctor admits. "You're confused. So am I. Incase you haven't noticed, this is a pretty large adjustment. I'm an alien and my dad looks like a hipster reject had a forbidden love with an elderly college professor. River Song is my time travelling mother. Not something that's very easy to come to terms with." Ari says and the Doctor opens his mouth to defend his fashion choices.

"It's only been two days. This isn't going to work out all at once." Ari concludes. The Doctor is about to reply, but then the phone rings.


	5. Time Tear

**A/N: This sort of went in a few different directions while writing, but I think it'll come together in the next chapter. This was simply made to introduce the main antagonist, honestly. I'll try my hardest to pick this up, cranking out some more chapters before Christmas because I'm wanting to do my own Christmas special with a twist. So, there's that to look forward to. I've gotten roughly 500 reads now, even though the views get chopped down by half each chapter. I should also mention that this takes place in season seven, but doesn't really follow the story line, though I might be adding a few real episodes in.**

The Doctor yanks the phone off of the hook. "Hello?" he calls into the receiver. There's a rushed jumble of words that force their way over the line, and then it goes dead. "What was that?" Ari asks. "Coordinates." the Doctor replies. "Where?" Ari asks curiously. "To the 80's. There has been something going on, apparently. Not sure who called," the Doctor says, searching the information he was given into the TARDIS database and coming up with absolutely nothing.

"And?" Ari asks. "It's weird. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. But, it's almost too quiet, like there's something that's been hidden." the Doctor ponders. "Well, you're the one with the space brain, I'll let you figure that out. As for me, I'm going to make myself presentable." she says, wandering away from him and to the wardrobe. His companions did always like the dressing up bit.

While he leans against the console, trying to think of the date and the conversation that just ensued between his daughter and himself, Ari faces an entirely new problem. The 80's. The fashion crime of the millenium. Mom jeans, ugly tights and leg warmers everywhere you looked. The horror. The tragedy. The high-waisted workout pants. And everything was so big. The hair. The shoulder pads. The threat of war between two world powers that always seems to be overshadowed by the memories of John Hughes movies.

So, she rifles through the racks of clothes until she finally finds something appropriate to wear without looking like she just finished a _Footloose _dance number.

The Doctor glances up when she enters and smiles. She's wearing a black mini skirt with ripped black tights and a tight gray Pink Floyd tee shirt. On her feet are vintage combat boots and traced around her eyes is heavy mascara and eyeliner, hair on the left side of her head pulled back into a clip while a layer of it on the right has been styled so it hangs over one eye, the curls tight and springy. She tugs a large leather jacket onto her shoulders and grins at him.

"I'm not really sure if this is actually anything similar to 80's wear, I was born in 2000, but who gives a damn?" she laughs lightly, tucking her hands into her pockets and smirking cooly. "Alright, let's go." the Doctor rolls his eyes at her and they step out into a frigid night. "Where are we?" she asks. "1986 Denver." the Doctor says after sniffing the air. "You can tell the year from the smell?" Ari asks incredulously. The Doctor just looks at her and continues on down the street, his sonic screwdriver in his hand, scanning.

"What're you scanning for?" Ari asks. "Dunno, yet. We'll figure that out when we find it." the Doctor replies. She pushes some of her hair out of her eyes, the strands sticking to her mascara, the gesture reminding the Doctor vaguely of Rose. She sighs quietly, her eyes flitting to the side and then to the ground. "What's wrong?" the Doctor asks. "Nothing," she says quickly. The Doctor simply waits.

"I had some nice foster families. And some… not so nice foster families. That's fine, that's okay. It happens, you know. And I know when you're a foster parent, no matter how much you like a kid, you can't just adopt them. If you adopt one, you sort of have to adopt them all, which you can't do either because there are laws against it. I've been with gay couples and straight couples and everything in between. Elderly people, young people, lots of kids, the only one in the house was me. I have been exposed to every religion and culture under the sun and the only semi-consistent thing in my life was River. The entire time, I felt on edge, as if I was getting ready to get up and run at any moment. When I was younger, I walked on my toes, prepared to lift off and fly far away. I never settled, never wanted to. I never felt like I belonged anywhere." Ari explains. The Doctor nods thoughtfully.

"And now?" he prompts. "And now I don't know. What is the right way to feel, at this point? What does belonging feel like? Does it feel like some sort of tight coil in my chest getting ready to snap or like I trust you with my life? You can trust anyone with your life, that doesn't have to mean anything. It depends on the type of person you are. If you're one who values your simple existence, then maybe, but if you don't…" Ari trails off, looking up at the Doctor and imploring him to understand what she's trying to say. "I don't know. I think I may have forgotten the feeling. Do you value your simple existence?" the Doctor says, stopping in his steps and turning to face her.

"Maybe. Only if it means something. I don't value anything that is absolutely useless." Ari says. "How do you know if it means something?" the Doctor wonders. "Precisely my point." Ari frowns at her shoes as snow starts to gently fall. "Don't decide now. You've got the rest of your life to decide whether you feel a certain way or not." the Doctor advises and they walk in silence, listening to the buzzing of the sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor aims the sonic at every building they pass discreetly, trying to avoid the attention of other pedestrians walking through the streets, pushing their way through the dense crowd. Ari blends in well enough, the Doctor earns some odd looks for his choice of clothing. Hipsters aren't yet the most untrendy trend, so bow ties aren't exactly a common thing. "So, you get some coordinates from a person you haven't ever met before and now we're scanning for extra-terrestrial activity?" Ari inquires, jogging to keep up with his long legs.

"You realize when you say extra-terrestrial, you're referring to yourself now, don't you?" the Doctor deflects her question. "You more than me, surely. Out of the two of us, at least I'm naturalized. You just drop by and take humans out for joy rides." Ari teases. The Doctor huffs indignantly, but says no more, because his aimless wandering has just become a lot more directed when he finally gets a signal he can claim is less than regular from a nearby building.

He grabs Ari's hand and pulls her along, cutting across the car filled street and muttering apologies to the people he steps on. The building is old and deserted, the outside crumbling dangerously. "Why can't the invading aliens ever choose nice, sanitary places to operate out of?" Ari mutters, trying to make a joke to soothe her fried nerves. All of this happening right after she blasted a bunch of Cybermen to kingdom come is not how she'd like to spend her evening.

"I once met some aliens that pretended to be members of the British Government." the Doctor says casually. "I can't have a conversation with you without everything getting completely thrown off." Ari mumbles, smiling nonetheless. The Doctor only chuckles and ruffles up her hair, giving it more volume than it already has. The Doctor knocks on the red door with the chipped, peeling paint and rotting wood curiously, noticing how the pedestrians' eyes look to it, but then just slide over it without them really noticing the dingy building at all. He points it out to Ari when no one answers the door.

"See the people? They're looking at us, but they can't really see us. This entire building has a perception filter," the Doctor explains like a school teacher, Ari nodding along, noting the vacant expressions of the people as their eyes flit over the Doctor and herself like they're not even there. "Cool." Ari says and the Doctor nods his agreement.

The Doctor unlocks the door, allowing them in and looks around at the dilapidated house. The wallpaper is peeling, there's mold growing from the walls and ceiling. The floorboards under them are nearly rotted all the way through, creaking under the weight of the two aliens walking on them. Everything is covering in a thick layer of dust; the stairs, the empty shelves, the furniture with sheets draped over them.

The Doctor sniffs around, sticking his tongue out to lick the air experimentally. "Basement." he decides, leading the way down stairs, using his sonic as a flashlight and Ari pulling a small pen light out of her pocket. They reach the basement and the scent of mildew and rust assaults them, Ari wrinkling her nose in distaste. But she's distracted by something else almost instantly.

In the middle of the dimly lit space, there's a warp. A wrinkled part of the air glowing very faintly, golden light seeping through. The air and everything around it shimmers, bending to accommodate the fracture. "What is that?" Ari asks quietly. "A rip in time," the Doctor replies. "Like the cracks?" Ari asks, remembering a story about a girl with a crack in her wall, eating her life. "No, this is much more common," the Doctor assures her. "Sometimes, when a huge event in time happens, something catastrophic, something that changes life throughout the universe forever, the fabric of reality becomes… soft to bend around it. To cope. And when that happens, it's vulnerable to tears and rips. Multiple points in time bleeding into each other, touching. And, the longer it goes unfixed, the bigger they get, until things fall through and everything starts to paradox."

"I feel like there's someone other than you going around and fixing them if that hasn't happened already." Ari mutters. "It has happened, it does all the time, but someone does come along and fix the paradox and then people forget. It's hard to retain memories of alternate timelines of your life unless you're a time traveller. Or a Time Lord. The only reason you don't is that all of the genetic traits you got from me have been dormant. Being on Earth for as long as you have with no real exposure to anything else causes adaption, so you're much more human at the moment than you should be." the Doctor explains.

"Back to the issue at hand." Ari gestures to the tear. "Yes. You fix them by jumping to the start point and closing it from there, hopefully getting back to where you we're before it shuts all the way." The Doctor straightens his bow tie. "That can't feel very good." Ari infers. "Not really. We'll be fine." The Doctor assures her, patting the top of her head.

"So, we just," Ari steps towards it and waves her arms broadly, "run and jump?" The Doctor grips her hand tightly in his own and nods, striding confidently towards the tear and edging his way in, biting his tongue as his body starts to morph and stretch, the rip in time ripping him apart, too. He may have forgotten to mention this to Ari. She winces as they make a small drop into the fabric of the universe itself and look around, burning from the sensation, every pore on fire.

As they reach farther in, leaving temporal boundaries behind, the pain becomes more intense. Ari presses a hand to her mouth to stifle a yelp and the Doctor squeezes her hand. They're finally sucked into the void of the universe, which brings an entirely new feeling. A feeling of not existing at all. No mass, no gravity clinging to them, it's very freeing and totally terrifying. Lungs strangely light, no air to constrict them and no air to tempt them at the same time, Ari feels as though she may float away, her head spinning not entirely unpleasantly.

Looking around, time burns around them, through them, out of every molecule of their beings, writing them into the moments the rip is touching, portraying the two as glimpses of people on a sidewalk you're not even really sure are there at all. It scorches Ari's eyes, tears of molten lava steak down her face and it rips her apart. With a silent cry, the Doctor forces them through an opening in the stream of time, tumbling out onto solid ground with Ari landing on top of him in a heap of flailing limbs before the girl rolls off and curls in on herself.

"Ari," the Doctor whispers, getting up onto his knees. She breathes in deeply through her nose. "You're just overly sensitive to it. Time travel has cracked open a block in your mind and makes you more receptive to the Vortex." he mumbles, rubbing her arm. "Couldn't have warned me before?" Ari grumbles, causing the Doctor to smile slightly. He helps her to her feet as they survey their surroundings. They're in a white hallway with only one door all the way at the end, a charcoal gray that sharply contrasts with the rigorous white of the rest of their surroundings.

The Doctor strides confidently towards the door, Ari following with considerably less flare, her energy sapped and her head pounding. Her hearts smash unevenly in her chest as she struggles to breathe, only adding to the discomfort and nausea, but she pushes on anyway. "Shouldn't we knock?" the Doctor is stopped in the middle of trying to enter the room by a small voice offering a suggestion from behind him. "The Doctor never knocks." the Doctor raises a scholarly finger. "Is that a rule?" Ari teases. "Perhaps." he's never given it much thought, or assigned said rule a number.

The Doctor eases the door open carefully, not allowing it to creak and pokes his head into the small space he made. "Well?" Ari prompts, coming up behind him and holding onto his sleeve. He presses a finger to his lips, shushing her as he steps into the empty room. Well, empty is a bit of a stretch. The room is full of rips in the air, but they're like gaping mouths, as if they've been propped open so you can see inside. And through every single one is the Doctor.

Different faces, different companions, but it's all him. Ari knows just a bit about the Doctor and regeneration, River told her bits and pieces when she'd tell Ari stories. Her mother may have made it more fanciful than it actually was, but Ari still has a vague idea. 11 faces, all of them different, but somehow, Ari can sense that it's him. "You?" she asks quietly, the Doctor looking sharply at her. "How'd you know?" the Doctor eyes her warily. "I can just tell." she shrugs. "Bigger fish." she reminds him when he continues to look at her. He turns his attention back to the cracks in time and ventures closer to the nearest one.

It's showing him fall through the vacuum of space without protection, in a free fall towards the Earth. And then another portrays him surviving electrocution by angry Slitheens. Ari spins and spies him yanking a piece of surgical equipment out of his chest in the back of a car, mumbling about primitive alien technology. The common theme would appear to be his resiliency. Voices echo down the hallway along with brisk footsteps. "Doctor." Ari warns and they duck behind a desk barely a second before the door opens. Ari peeks from around the desk and catches a glimpse of a suit leg before the Doctor tugs her back, shaking his head mutely at her.

"Sir, are you sure this is safe? So many different sections of the same timeline sitting open in one moment?" a timid voice breaks the silence of the room. ""Decidedly not. But that doesn't matter, when I achieve what I want, a little risk will have been more than worth it." a sharp voice replies, both male, but the one that had just spoken has a hard, determined edge to it that makes Ari's skin crawl.

"Mr. Architect, how do you know this machine… how do you know it will help you? How do you know it works?" the first man inquires. "It will work." the one called Architect dismisses his companion's trivial worries. He had not seen the things the Architect has seen. He knows that all of his dreams and desires reside behind two wooden doors.

"Sir, we've just caught word that there's an unsanctioned rip in the building. They're tracking it down now." the timid male says, suddenly more business like. "It was likely to happen. Find it. Destroy it." Mr. Architect replies, sounding bored. Both of them exit and after a tense moment of silence, the Doctor stands.

"That's our ride." the Doctor says, walking towards the door as Ari follows him quietly, her boots barely making a sound on the floor. "We have to close them." she says before they can make it into the hallway. The Doctor turns to look at her and she notices him carefully keeping his eyes off of the tears, as if he's afraid of them. His entire life in a room. The Doctor strides over to the large, futuristic looking computer in the middle of the room on the desk they were hiding behind, aiming his sonic at it and pressing a few buttons.

"Was he… after the TARDIS?" Ari asks, joining him by the computer and watching as he offers a stiff shrug in response. "Maybe. Probably." the Doctor allows. "Why doesn't he just go and get his own? There's an entire planet with them somewhere, right?" Ari inquires innocently. River spared her the story of the Time War. Of course she did. "Bigger fish." the Doctor repeats her earlier statement, flicking a switch on the computer, causing the entire building to shudder and alarms to go off, an automated voice sounding, announcing an emergency.

"That's our cue." he says, leading the way into the hallway and leaping headfirst into the ripple of air, signifying the tear in the universe.

The entire interior of it shakes, the small space allowing them to get out and back to the rundown home they came from closing slowly. The space in between seems to stretch, far too long for them to get out in time. Time is healing itself and is trying to purge the abnormalities, Ari and the Doctor included. They press forward, trying to escape, but it's closing in on them. The Doctor finally rips himself through, forcing his way back into the open air, but then it snaps shut before he can reach back and grab Ari also.

"Ari!" the Doctor shouts into the empty room, the tear gone along with his daughter.


	6. The Void

The Void is the space between universes, where all of the trapped souls of the failed time and space travellers go. Stuck and helpless, at the mercy of the endless nothing that it is. A place where nothing becomes a tangible entity, emptiness is a thing that can be felt. Ari is trapped with no way out.

She feels the absence of sensory detail around her, which doesn't actually make sense. She might consider it to be dark, but that's just because she can't see. Perhaps her eyes are closed, but she can't feel it. Perhaps she's dying. That would make sense. But, what's killing her? Nothing. Can nothingness kill?

A troubling question to be sure, but not nearly as troubling as the question of what is in the Void with her. Ari can feel them. The whispers of silence and secrets that can never be spoken, not making a sound but still there. Names and questions and events and cries for help from the things lost in the Void before her.

Words Ari doesn't know but still triggers something in her heart, languages she can't speak, but she understands. But most of all, the feeling of being watched. Where nothing can see or hear, where there are whispers with no sound, how can anything be watching her? A spy with no eyes. A mouth with no words to accompany it. _Ari…_

Something rustles her out of her stupor, gaining her full attention. A prod at her mind, a thought in there that isn't her own. Her name. _Ari, hold on. _It says to her. It's accompanied by a familiar noise, breaking the established silence of the Void. Wheezing, groaning, like a robot having an asthma attack. Shouting at her, assaulting her senses, interrupting the silent whispers.

In her vision that used to not even exist, a bright blue cuts through the darkness, a flashing light atop it. The door creaks open and Ari sees a figure stumble out, as if pushing against an impossible force. It makes its way towards her and lifts her up, like she was laying on the ground. There is no ground.

For what seems like an eternity, they make their way to the bright orange light calling to them until finally, they reach the TARDIS. Stepping inside, Ari is enveloped by the heat of the interior, warming her straight through to her hearts. Her hands wrap themselves around the lapels of the Doctor's jacket, trying to hold onto him. The Doctor says something to her, maybe it was along the lines of soothing, but she couldn't hear him over the roaring in her ears and the chattering of her teeth.

There's an arm tucked under her legs, holding her partially upright against him so he can use his free hand for balance, minding her head as they make their way down narrow hallways and into a room the Doctor seldom used. A medical bay. She tumbled through time and was dropped unceremoniously into the Void outside of the known universe, so she may be entitled to a bit of medical attention.

"Dad," the Doctor's hearts stutter at the word, one that he hasn't been addressed with for maybe 450 years now, not since his last face and a brief encounter with a machine made girl. "Yeah?" he offers and Ari looks up, her own eyes open in surprise at what had slipped out. "What happened?" she whispers, the words forcing their way past her lips, her teeth clicking together tightly after them to stop the shaking of her mouth. She's so _cold. _

"Fell into the space between universes after the rips closed up. You'll be fine." the Doctor adds the last bit as reassurance when he sees the unease in her face at his statement. "There were voices," Ari says, eyes closing and her brow crumpling in confusion. "What did they say?" the Doctor inquires, distracting her while he slides a heart monitor onto her finger, four irregular beats piercing the air. "They were talking about a war." Ari says slowly, as if trying to remember and the Doctor freezes, hoping she wouldn't remember, hoping he could pretend for a little longer. Pretend that he had a planet he could go back to, if he so chose.

"Don't concern yourself with it now, Ari." he says dismissively. "They said they burned in it. They said that they were betrayed. They were trapped in a single moment and died trying to escape." Ari continues anyway, mouth twisting in thought. "Did they mention a name?" the Doctor asks casually. Or, he tries to sound casual. "No." she says and he sighs in relief.

He sets her down onto an examining table and she leans back against the TARDIS wall behind her. "Alright?" The Doctor asks curiously, noting her pale skin and alarmingly blue lips. "I can't feel my toes." She mumbles. The Doctor makes a show of picking up her booted foot and examining it. "Well, they're still there." He assures her. Ari gives him a small upturn of lips, amused by his antics, but utterly exhausted. She pinches her eyes shut, trying to rid them of the burning as the Doctor seeks out a thick red blanket from under a counter across the room from her, throwing it open and tossing it over her.

She grips it with her white, freezing fingers, pulling her knees up to her chest with a small shiver. _And so dangerous, _the Doctor thinks. "So. What now?" Ari voices her question so quietly the Doctor almost misses it. The Doctor offers a hand and Ari uses his arm to steady herself, clambering off of the table and gripping the blanket with one fist at her throat like it's a cape. They make it to her room, which has changed slightly, fairy lights tracing above her bed and around her shelves now filled with books, Ari catching sight of a few of her favorite titles before stumbling and landing face first into the soft bed.

"Good idea." she groans into her blankets, kicking off her boots and scrambling up the bed and dropping her head onto the pillows quickly, moving like a squirrel and curling up under the comforter like a cat. She reminds the Doctor of some small animal with her quick, quiet little feet, slight stature and sharp wit. A subtler version of River Song. Less hell in high heels, more mischief in Converse.

The Doctor turns and exits, Ari watching him go calmly. He strides into the console room and without really registering his movements, flies the TARDIS into the Ponds' living room. There's a knock on the TARDIS door moments later and Amy pokes her head in curiously. The Doctor looks up at her, almost embarrassed at his thoughtless decision, what with his newfound daughter sleeping a few corridors away and all. "Come in Pond!" he calls jovially. Amy flounces into the TARDIS, followed by Rory, both of them looking around, as if sensing something off. Can married couples sense domestication? Do wayward daughters count as domestic? These are very important questions which the Doctor can't worry about right now.

"Hey." Amy calls, trying to gain his attention. "Yes?" the Doctor looks at her. "A month." Rory supplies. "A month! Hello, Ponds," he goes to embrace both of them, still flustered, "I've got a bit of news." Amy arches an eyebrow and the Doctor jumps at the similarity between her and the kid he's got sleeping down the hall.

"News?" she challenges, crossing her arms. "What is it? Have you discovered a new element? Is the Earth in terrible danger again?" Rory guesses. "No, of course not! News about… Oberon III. Very nice this time of year, I heard. Thought we could check it out. Or go and see that pudding museum I was telling you about, maybe even drop by the Previously Lost Moon of Poosh." the Doctor spits out the first ideas that come to his mind. "Previously?" Rory frowns. "I found it. A while back, always meant to go check it out." the Time Lord trails off at the withering looks he earns from his two companions.

"You're hiding something." Amy decides, stepping closer to him. "Am not." he shows her his hands as if it will provide proof. "What is it? Have you done something? Are you okay? Is it River?" Amy demands, suddenly thinking of her jailed daughter.

"Uh, see, it rather has something to do with another curly haired female." the Doctor admits, backing away from the glaring woman. "What curly haired female?" Rory insists. They're doing that married couple mind sharing thing, where one will start a statement and the other will continue on the same thought, as if they have some sort of joined consciousness. The Doctor makes a wide sweeping motion with his arms, trying to summon the words his brain knows he has to say, but his mouth seems to be less convinced.

"The one currently sleeping down the hall." that just doesn't sound good at all. At their widened eyes, the Doctor backtracks. "Ari," he calls loudly, momentarily forgetting the hybrid's condition. He wanders down the hall, coming up quickly to her door and stepping inside, shaking the girl awake. "What is it?" she growls. "You need to come meet someone." the Doctor states, nudging her out of bed. She stumbles out onto the floor, her socked feet making no noise, and follows after him into the console room, head lolling slightly from sleep.

"Amy, Rory," the Doctor calls, waiting for the couple to turn, "this is Arkytior." Amy and Rory stare at the teenager in a state of shock and disbelief. Why would the Doctor bring a kid onto the TARDIS?

"Ari." The girl corrects lazily, dropping into the jumpseat, still exhausted. "Hello." Rory says uncertainly. "Rory and Amy, right?" She looks them over and matches them to the description River gave of her family, people who travel with the man in the box from the stories she was told as a child.

"You know us?" Amy asks. "Not personally. Well, I suppose I do now. But we haven't met before now." Ari answers. Amy looks pointedly at the Doctor, nodding to the corridor. He hangs his head and follows after her and Rory to talk privately.

"What is a child doing on the TARDIS?" she hisses. "Yeah, travelling with you is great, but it's not exactly a kid-safe activity." Rory says, glancing over his shoulder at the girl with the curly hair and large jacket, watching her curl up into the jump seat. There's something so… familiar about her. The Doctor shuffles, looking intensely uncomfortable and glancing around as if some answer will reveal itself to him in the walls of the TARDIS. Finally, he sighs.

"Arkytior." he repeats her name, as if imploring the Ponds to understand based on that. "Yeah. Funny name. So?" Amy dismisses. "Gallifreyan name." the Doctor sighs. "What?" Rory spits, eyes widening. "She's a Time Lord? I thought you were the last." Amy exclaims, keeping her voice low with a tremendous amount of effort. "I am. She's a hybrid. Doesn't she look familiar to you?" the Doctor snaps, as if annoyed with their slowness. Amy looks at the Doctor, then Rory, then leans to look at the curls visible over the back of the jumpseat. "She isn't." she gasps. "Arkytior Pond." the Doctor nods.

"She's… yours?" Amy squints at the Doctor skeptically, as if doubting it even as it escapes her lips. "And River's?" Rory -in true dad form- glares at the alien violently. "It seems so. I'm not really sure how, though." he's met with two incredulous glares, causing his cheeks to burn and for him to hurriedly reiterate, "What I mean is that there's no useful information on her. I know she's mine, I know she's River's, but everything else… Her life, her birth, her entire existence is very vague. Either River was able to hide her well enough that even the TARDIS is at a loss, or something else is at work."

"You have a child. An actual kid. You're an actual father." Amy says, in a dazed state of shock. "We're grandparents." Rory takes a completely different take on the news. "I'm 31!" he shouts, earning a warning smack on the arm from his wife. "What's wrong with her?" Amy asks, remembering the foggy, exhausted eyes she was faced with, now noting how the color matches that of the Doctor's perfectly. "It's been a strenuous day." the Doctor sighs. He quickly runs through the story of her first few days on the TARDIS, totally earning their sympathy by the end of it.

They enter the console room again to find the girl curled up on the jumpseat, head leaned back against it and eyes partially closed. "Hello." She mumbles, watching them approach, the Ponds with unsure smiles. Rory eyes her and notices the similarities with the Doctor, River and even his wife. Amy is there in her thin fingers and pale, freckled skin. "How do you feel?" the Doctor asks studiously, feeling her forehead and marveling at how warm she is. Time Lords have an adjustable body temperature, generally running cooler than humans, but she's burning up. "Not so hot." She says, rubbing at her bloodshot eyes with aching hands. Every part of her hurts, her stomach, her limbs, her chest is constricted and her hands and feet are freezing.

Rory, being a nurse, desperately wants to see if he can help. She's obviously unwell, but Rory doesn't know the first thing about her alien biology and the Doctor seems to be doing well all on his own. Besides, how do you diagnose her? She fell into the unknown between universes, what does that entail for physical health? "Any dreams?" the Doctor asks, taking her pulse. A thready double heartbeat thuds against his fingers, restrained by the skin of her wrist. "Some. Can't remember much." she admits. "Can you remember anything?"

Ari heaves a sigh and shrugs, as if whatever she has to say will be meaningless. "It was like they weren't my own, not even from my subconscious. There was… red grass. And fighting. Some city, I think. There was noise, like a battle." she scrunches her nose, trying to remember. The Doctor swallows, looking at Amy and Rory uncomfortably. "Leftover psychic imprint on your mind from the Void and the time rip. You'll be fine." the Doctor waves his hand, touching her hair and nodding for her to go back to bed. She rises, but instead heads down a different corridor, as if searching for something.

**A/N: Just a very short chapter to fight through the ever dreaded writers block. But, fear not, the next one will be up shortly. **

"She knows us." Amy says, frowning after the retreating teen. "Yes, River told her stories." the Doctor supplies. "Was she… talking about the Time War?" Rory risks asking. "It seems so. Hopefully those dreams will go away, soon. River'll kill me otherwise, giving her daughter nightmares after only two days of travel." the Doctor grumbles unhappily. "Two days?" Amy exclaims. Rory looks at him in shock and some sort of horror, as if trying to wrap his mind around accidentally dropping a girl into the Void only after two days of knowing each other. "Why are we here, Doctor?" Amy asks. "Distraction. For Ari. Normal Earth people will be good for her, you balance _me_," he makes wild hand gestures to himself and the TARDIS, "out." Amy steps up to the console, smiling. "So, a planet, then?" she asks hopefully. "Maybe we should wait. She doesn't seem to be doing so well, can't we just drift for a little while?" Rory reasons.

"Right, fine. Set her to drift, get the kid something to eat. Have to find the kitchen," the Doctor looks to the Ponds for confirmation, "Do I have a kitchen?" Amy hangs her head, sighing through her nose. Oh, boy.


	7. Oberon III

**A/N: Two chapters in one day, I'm on a roll. I'm super excited because this is where it's starting to get good! Anyway, here you go and I hope you like it. I need to get around two more chapters out before I can do my own Christmas Special, so wish me luck!**

What was originally meant to be a few days of rest turned into an entire TARDIS month. In that time, Ari adjusted completely to her strange new lifestyle, her strange new father and has spent endless hours getting lost in the rows and stacks and crowds of books in the library. The Doctor sat and watched as his time machine became strangely domesticated. He knew where the kitchen was, he had a kid and was reasonably responsible for her and Amy and Rory are, well, married.

But, just because life is becoming what he would consider too tame to be anything but dull, it didn't mean his brain didn't slow down enough to notice Ari slowly dropping over a cliff into something not very nice. There are circles under her eyes and nightmares plaguing her every dreaming moment. She ignores it and denies his accusations.

Ari walks into the console room and sees the Doctor's legs sticking out from under the console, a tool box next to him and his jacket hanging from the jumpseat. "Dad." she calls, kneeling next to him. "What?" comes his muffled reply. "It's been a month. I'm bored. Can we go planet-looking?" Ari whines. The Doctor slides out from beneath the console to look at her. "You're not well." he says bluntly and Ari rolls her eyes, only calling attention to the purple bruises and red rims surrounding them. "I'll be fine. But I'm getting ready to die of boredom here." Ari presses, giving him big puppy eyes she learned he had a very hard time saying no to.

He glares back, but finally sighs and nods, going to search for the Ponds. Ari had grown closer with her grandparents, wondering at how well they complimented each other and if River and the Doctor were like that. She had only seen her mother once at Knat Clandestine's party, she had no idea what River was like with her husband. he comes back with them a few minutes later and grins widely at all of them. "I did say I wanted to visit Oberon III." he announces. "Oberon, King of the Fairies has a summer home?" Ari jokes and the Doctor smiles. "I hated Shakespeare in high school." Amy mumbles. "He was a very nice man. I saved the world with him, once." the Doctor says.

"Of course you did. And I suppose you had tea with Agatha Christie as well?" Rory scoffs. The Doctor gives him a look and the nurse slaps his arms against his thighs in indignation. "So, planet!" the Doctor jumps over to the console and Ari leans up next to him, eyeing the buttons he presses and the switches intently, as if trying to memorize how to fly the TARDIS by watching.

"Flip that orange switch there," the Doctor points to one in the downward position by Ari's left hand. She flicks it with her finger and the Doctor motions to the two levers next to him. "Up for forwards in time, down for backwards." She shoves them upwards and they're thrown into the Time Vortex, Ari grinning the entire way. She likes how the TARDIS whirls and shakes, makes every trip more like some great adventure.

They land and Ari topples over into the jumpseat, losing her balance and grinning. "Alright?" the Doctor helps her up and they go over to the door. "So, Amy, do you remember the first spaceship I took you on?" the Doctor says in a professorly manner. Amy frowns, that isn't something they generally talk about. "Yes." she says cautiously and the Doctor grins at her, pulling open the door. Amy looks out and gasps. Flying above them, settling into the grass around them, are Star Whales.

"What are they?" Ari asks. "Star Whales. This is their home planet. I found it." the Doctor smiles smugly at Amy, who steps out and lets a laugh escape. In the sky, they swirl around lazily, interacting cheerfully with one another. "Star Whales." Ari repeats, following Amy and examining one laying in the grass lazily a few feet away. In the dark, glowing sky filled with unfamiliar stars, its purplish gray skin seems to glow, its whiskers lying in front of its head. Instead of fins, it has long floating tentacle type things and a light hanging in front of its face. It lifts its head and looks over at them with small, dark eyes. It's the size of a cruise liner, but seems utterly gentle.

"They're beautiful." Ari mutters quietly. "They're huge." Rory agrees, stepping towards it cautiously. "Don't be afraid, it won't bite," the Doctor and Amy meet eyes, "Well. I say that." Amy laughs and approaches it, stepping right up to its face and reaches out, touching the skin below its eye. It lets out a contented sound and Amy jumps a little. "Oh! It's kind of squishy." she says, giggling. "_He_, Amy. His name is Walter." the Doctor corrects and Ari stares at him curiously. "How do you know that?" she asks. "I speak Star Whale." he says, straightening his bowtie superiorly. "No you don't." Ari informs him. "I speak everything, Little Pond." the Doctor replies, unshaken by her remark.

Suddenly, there's an enraged shout from behind them and they all turn to see a stern looking alien in a gray and blue suit, it's face brown and and shaped like a potato. "Intruders!" it shouts. "Sontarans." the Doctor grumbles, annoyed. "Surrender, human scum, to the glory of the Sontaran Empire!" it orders, raising a gun threateningly. "Oh, shut up." the Doctor snaps. "Take us to your leader." Amy adds, raising her hands near her head and smirking at the Doctor as the Sontaran circles them with his gun pointed. The Doctor starts to grin back, but it drops off of his face when Ari is jabbed in the spine with the Sontaran's gun as he tells them to walk. The Doctor tugs her in front of him, holding onto her shoulders and she huffs, annoyed. "So… what're Sontarans?" Ari asks quietly. "They're military species. They love war, going around and invading planets, conquering them for the glory of the Sontaran Empire." the Doctor summarizes. "Not very friendly, then?" Ari guesses. "Not really, no. Although, I know of a very nice one living in Victorian London." the Doctor shrugs his shoulders.

They come up upon a little cubby with a panel inside, fit for the three fingered Sontarans. "Teleport." the Doctor whispers. They step in and the Sontaran presses his hand to it, zapping them onto the Sontaran ship. "Officer Jask." another Sontaran calls. The ship is full of them and they all look very similar. "General Storr, I found these _humans _hiding in the field." the first Sontaran-Jask- replies, looking at his prisoners hatefully.

"Hello." the Doctor waves cheerfully. "This is our planet. It has been claimed by the Sontaran Empire." Storr says unhappily. "Can't you go find another one without life?" Ari asks, crossing her arms. "Terraforming takes time. And we need space for the Empire now." Storr replies, "And besides, there won't be any life on this planet for very long." he gives her a sinister smile. "Doctor, is this how the Star Whales die?" Amy whispers. The Doctor shrugs and watches the Sontarans curiously. They all seem to be stealing glances at the four of them, as if they know something.

"Lock them up, I have no time for puny humans." Storr dismisses and they're brought to a small jail containing three cells. Amy and Rory are put in one, the Doctor and Ari in another. The officer presses a button on his suit and the bars come to life with electricity. "Oh, that's sort of clever. The lock is psychically linked with the Sontaran. The bars are live and unbreachable as long as the Sontaran is awake." the Doctor says. Ari looks around the dark cell and frowns to herself. Why didn't they just kill them. They plan to kill off the Star Whales, why not dispose of the humans, too? All of them were armed.

Before Ari gets a chance to ask, the Doctor looks down at her feet, clad in black Converse. "Give me your shoe." he says, pointing at her right foot. "Why?" she asks, crossing her arms. "Because Sontarans have a weakness. On their armor there's a hole on the back of their neck, and if you hit it, it knocks them unconscious. They can only be taken down if they're not facing you." the Doctor replies, gesturing to her foot again. Ari sighs, lifting her leg and muscling her shoe off of her foot, handing it to the Doctor and standing there in her multicolored sock hidden under green cargo pants.

The Doctor smiles at her and then steps as close as he can to the bars while still remaining a safe distance away and aims for the back of the Sontaran's neck. He pulls the shoe back and swings his hand forward, launching it through the air and hitting him on the back of the neck. The Sontaran tips forward with a groan and falls flat to the floor. The door unlocks, as does Amy and Rory's cell.

"Come on." the Doctor hisses, creeping out, grabbing Ari's shoe for her as they go. She stuffs her foot back into it as they creep along the corridor and into the main control room, successfully avoiding the attention of the Sontarans. Two of them are talking with the general. "Sir, we were instructed to send to Time Lord female to them immediately after encounter." one of them says, to which the general shakes his head. "And we will. But we must first distract the Doctor." he says. Ari looks to her father, but he just shakes his head.

"We have to stop them from killing the planet." he says, as if trying his best to ignore what they just heard. "So… blow up the spaceship?" Rory suggests. "How about, send the spaceship away instead?" Ari suggests, shooting Rory a glare. "Won't work. They'll just come back." the Doctor says grimly. "I'll give them a choice." he adds, seeing the look Ari was casting them. "We need to get back to the TARDIS." he says decidedly.

"What's the plan?" Amy asks. "Take over their controls. The have a self-destruct. We can take control from the TARDIS, warn them and then if they don't comply… Boom." the Doctor summarizes the frenzy of thoughts in his head. He rises and the others go to follow him, but he stops them. "One of us is going to have to stay here and relinquish control to the TARDIS, allow us access." he announces. "I'll do it." Ari says quickly, wanting to make herself useful. The Doctor stares at her. "I'm the smallest, it's more likely I won't be noticed. And I know something about the TARDIS, I can actually read Circular Gallifreyan." over the course of the month they spent idle, she taught herself, with occasional help from the Doctor.

Amy and Rory look ready to argue, but the Doctor beats them to it. "Absolutely not." he says stubbornly. "Dad, I'll be fine." Ari gives him a sure grin that reminds him too much of River and he heaves a sigh, nodding and rummaging in his pockets for something. "Here," he tugs out a Vortex Manipulator he got from some version of River, sliding it onto her wrist and typing in the right coordinates. "Once you're finished, you get out of there as fast as you can. Press this button and it'll take you right to the TARDIS. Understand?" the Doctor looks down at her seriously. "Yeah." she nods and the Doctor takes the Ponds one way, back to the TARDIS, while Ari ventures out into the open, finding the right panel in a far corner and waiting for the TARDIS instructions to come up on the main screen in front of her. A moment later, the message appears and Ari follows what it says to do, typing furiously and slamming a button down. Suddenly, the lights go down in the ship and the flight screen is taken over by a message. _Hello, this is the Doctor. _it reads. _Say something, I can hear you just fine. _Comes a follow up message.

"What is the meaning of this?" the general calls. _You're going to kill an entire species. I can't allow it, I'm afraid. _"What do you plan to do?" he scoffs. _I have control of your entire ship. I will give you three minutes to evacuate before I activate the self destruct. _As if to prove his point, the Doctor pulls the self-destruct countdown up onto the screen below his message, not starting it yet, just getting it ready. "There is someone still on board. One of your precious humans. You couldn't have done all of this from your TARDIS." the Sontaran says knowingly. The other Sontarans raise their guns and begin to search for her. For a moment, Ari freezes, her mind going blank, before she scrambles to the thick leather band on her wrist.

It's too late, a Sontaran grabs her arm, throwing the thing away from them and then three of his officers come and aim their guns at her. Pushing her forward to the main screen, General Storr turns and smirks. "Can you see us, Doctor?" he asks. _Yes. _"It's been one minute already. What will you do when three minutes is up and the child is still on board?" the general asks. No response. Ari mouths an apology at the screen, hoping the Doctor can see it, and crosses her arms. _Let her go and I'll allow you to go free. _they are finally graced with an answer. "And you will sacrifice her if we don't?" the general scoffs. _I will personally destroy each and every one of you until there is only a whisper of the Great Sontaran Empire left if you don't. I have a time machine. Don't test me. _

Ari isn't sure if this is another trick like it was with the Bellanites. He may be bluffing. Ari can't tell. Would he do that?

"Unfortunately for you, Doctor, Sontarans do not fear death. We live to die in battle. And it would be an honor to die for the Sontaran Empire at the hand of the Doctor." the general announces, then starts chanting, "Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!" as the others follow his lead. The noise overwhelms Ari, her head and heart pounding with adrenaline she has no way of releasing, but the lack of response from the Doctor is what truly worries her.

So much that she barely has any time to react when a Sontaran slips the Vortex Manipulator back onto her wrist, pressing in new coordinates and sending her off on a final, deafening "Ha!"

She lands violently, falling sharply onto her feet and just as quickly is yanked off of them by strong, harsh hands. She's lifted into the air and the Manipulator is ripped away from her arm. It's too bright and she can barely see, so she clenches her eyes shut against the new surroundings and swings wildly, trying to land a blow on someone, anyone, but she's restrained. They move her, carrying her away and suddenly she's shoved into a chair, her hands locked to a table in front of her with chains and the door slams closed, leaving her in utter darkness.

Moments, maybe hours later the door opens and a light is flicked on. She looks up into a smirking face. It's a woman, a woman with her dark hair pulled in a tight up do on the top of her head, her eye traced with dark make up, the other hidden by a silver patch carved to fit onto her skin perfectly. "Hello, Arkytior." she says, sneering. Behind her stands an alien. It's skin is brownish gray with sunken in eyes and a dip of skin where it's mouth might've been. It's at least seven feet tall and wearing a black suit that resembles wrinkled paper, as if it's molded to it's slimy skin. Ari's seen it before, when she was a little girl, she thought she had imagined it because whenever someone else saw it, they forgot as soon as they looked away.

"Where am I?" Ari snaps angrily. "Don't you recognize it? You've been here before? This is where you were made." the woman says tauntingly. Ari just eyes her with no small amount of distrust. "I'm Madame Kovarian. This is your new home, girl." the woman says, then shuts off the light, leaving the room and Ari in utter darkness.


	8. Phantom of the Opera

**A/N: Here we are. This is very obviously based on A Good Man Goes to War, but I swear it has a completely different outcome and contributes to the story in a big way. Also, I may be taking some liberties with what the Silence actually is in canon. I promise I have my facts right, I may just elect to ignore them.**

The Doctor gapes at the monitor on the console, unwilling to grasp what had just happened. Ari had disappeared. She had teleported away from the ship and he doesn't know where. He ignores all notions of typing now, instead grabbing a microphone and setting it to project over the ship. "Where is she?" The Doctor shouts before getting a hold on his tone, his fury seeping quietly into his voice.

He gets no response, just mocking silence. Amy and Rory stand behind him, horrified and the Doctor turns away from them. He pushes a button on the console. "Self destruct activated." An automated voice announces. The Doctor releases the controls and flies off planet while Amy and Rory stare at him, choosing not to say anything.

"What just happened, Doctor?" Amy finally breaks the tense silence. "Ari's missing." The Doctor responds shortly, scowling. "They said they had orders." Rory says. "Who orders around Sontarans?" Amy continues. "Someone powerful." The Doctor shrugs, indifferent to the thought. It doesn't matter who they are or what they do.

The Doctor flies the TARDIS with violent determination to the only place where someone may know something. They land and he tears out of the doors, yelling, "RIVER!"

The blonde woman looks up, surprised, and stares out at him through the bars, gripping her diary tightly to her chest. "Doctor?" She asks, concern etched into his face. But he doesn't miss out her gaze flits past him to her parents and then fall with disappointment when they're the only ones there. "Ari? Is that who you're looking for?" The Doctor snaps and River jumps. "Where is she?" River demands, now infuriated that her husband lost her child.

"You tell me." The Doctor says, eyeing the blue book in her hands. "Where are we?" River asks cautiously. "Oberon III." The Doctor replies. It's difficult having a non-linear relationship. "Oh," River's eyes widen in recognition and she flips through her journal, "You're looking for a Mr. Bartholomew Titan. He knows where she is. Or, he'll get you started." River says, slapping her notebook shut. "And, remember these coordinates." River draws them on a piece of paper to show him. He gives it a glance and nods. "What is it?" Amy asks. "Where I'll be." River says, smiling ruefully.

They turn and go back to the TARDIS, the Doctor throwing a smirk and a snap at River, who returns the smile, not quite making it into her eyes. The Doctor enters the TARDIS and puts them in park in deep space, typing furiously into the monitor, searching for any such Bartholomew Titan. He gets a match and frowns at the location. He's on a tiny trading planet, used mostly for interstellar ships to dock and for not-even-slightly-legal deals to take place.

They fly there, the Doctor exiting the TARDIS, turning to stop the approaching Amy with a hand held into the air. "No." Amy replies harshly, pushing past him out of the vessel, glaring in annoyance. He sighs, but doesn't stop her, listening as Rory rushes after them. He takes Amy's arm, linking their hands as they follow quickly behind the determined looking man in his green army coat, tails whipping out behind him. They trek through the darkened streets quickly, barely looking around. There are booths set up and trestle tables, people standing at them speaking quietly, some smoking and others intently looking at the items, or often times the passers by, like they're lunch. Rory edges close to Amy, trying to deflect the predatory gazes with a burning glare of his own.

They step inside a scuffed, heavy, wooden door and are hit in the face with a cloud of cigarette smoke that floats lazily throughout the entire place. The inside is a dingy, dimly lit bar, containing equally dingy characters. Obvious aliens and humanoids mixed together into one big seedy soup. The Doctor approaches the bar, leaning against it and gaining the cat-man bartender's attention. the furry creature approaches and the Doctor asks for Bartholomew Titan. The bartender scoffs at him, unimpressed and ready to throw them out when the Doctor leans his head in and speaks quietly and quickly into the cat's ear, too low for anyone else to catch, but seems to shake the local because he lifts a paw to point at a metal door towards the back almost completely obscured by the smoky veil over the establishment.

Amy almost wants to know what he said. Almost.

They walk to the door, the Doctor pushing it open, not acknowledging the Ponds as they follow him in, Rory shutting it softly behind them. The room contains a small bed, a warped metal table with two wooden chairs, one of which is occupied by a man leaning back against the wall behind him, hand rolled cigarette dangling from his teeth. His eye-drive says Silence Operative, but his scruffy clothes, wary gaze and hole in the wall quarters tells a different story. Renegade on the run? Perhaps. Does it matter? Not at all.

"Mr. Titan." the Doctor sits in the other chair, leaning back against the stiff back rest, utterly at ease. "Who're you supposed to be?" Bartholomew asks suspiciously, his voice cracking up his throat, scratchy from years of smoking. "I'm the Doctor." the Time Lord introduces himself. "What can I do for you?" Titan inquires, as if the name means nothing to him. Right. The monster from Demons Run. He knows all about him.

"I'm looking for someone." the Doctor explains. "What makes you think I can help?" Titan asks. "Arkytior Pond. You know how to find her." the Doctor says. It's not a question. "I might. But if I tell you what I know, they'll find me. They'll come for me. The only thing keeping me alive right now is my closed mouth. They'll kill me if I talk." Bartholomew shrugs, blowing smoke into the Doctor's face. The Doctor does not cough.

Instead, he leans forward. "I invite you to stretch your imagination to ponder what I'll do to you if you don't. You're wildest thoughts wouldn't even begin to scrape the surface of it, I assure you." the Doctor whispers. A moment later, the renegade man had confessed all of his knowledge and begged for his life under only the chance that it had been threatened. The Doctor rises, plucks the cigarette from his lips and takes a long drag from it himself, then puts it out on the table. "You really shouldn't smoke." he says, blowing the smoke out of his mouth as he walks to the door, slamming it behind him and his companions.

He followed the trail of breadcrumbs the man had started for months, about three, tracking down operative and agent and spy and double dealer until finally, he has a location. Amy and Rory stuck with him, sleeping little, worrying much and following after the Doctor quietly, shadows to assist him were he to ask and to insist when he doesn't. They sent him to bed and forced food down his throat. Like good friends, they were there. They were the best of him.

The base was a small, homey planet, privately owned and a cover for a private military base. There is no proof that the Silence own it, save the fact that the Silence are there, hiding his child away beneath an old opera house.

A long way away (perhaps even a few months previous), a blue man makes a trade. His dealers don't say much, but Dorium never expects them to. He holds something tight in his fist, beaming widely at the stoic, blank faced soldiers in front of him. He assumes they're soldiers, sent by his very secretive client. He knows they have to be in league with the Silence, but something tells him that the Silence aren't behind this.

"Gentlemen!" he says amiably, smiling at them. They just look on. "Wonderful news, I have managed to procure what you needed. The latest software and defense systems, I'm assured. Right from the mouth of a Judoon. Or," he examines the small box, "the brain. It was easier to take the entire thing, I'm afraid." he says and a soldier holds his hand out. Dorium holds the box closer to his chest. "First, my payment?" he says kindly, but his eyes flash greedily. The other soldier holds out a velvet bag and Dorium snatches it away, grinning. "You should find it in the frontal lobe, should be easy, not much in there." he says and goes to turns away, but, "All of this for _one _child? She's just a girl." He can't help himself.

The soldiers look at him, something like emotion in his eyes, which Dorium takes for surprise. "Oh, I know what you're up to. I hear everything." the soldiers turn away, walking out on him, ignoring his statement. "I've even heard whose child it is! Are you mad, or stupid? Don't you know the stories? The things he's done? Haven't you heard of what happened the first time? God help you if you've made the Doctor angry." Dorium announces, walking off in the opposite direction. Deeper inside the base, there's a locked room. There are many locked rooms in the base, but this one is important because there's a young girl trapped inside. She can barely see, not because of lack of light, but because her mind is humming dramatically and her world is spinning. Finally, her senses calm and her head clears.

She takes a deep breath, looking around her. A chair, a table, a bed with a thin blanket. Her clothes are oversized, a gray tee shirt and baggy cargo pants, socks separating her cold feet from the colder floor. In seconds, her blood rushes through her veins and her hearts begin to smash against her ribs. With a scream, she lifts the chair up, ripping in out of the floor where it was bolted down and throws it into the two way one way glass across from her, the chair splintering and the glass shuddering, not smashing. She whirls and smashes her fist into the metal table, warping it again and again until she barely recognizes her reflection and her hand grows numb. She runs around the small perimeter, throwing herself around in a fit of pure rage and adrenalin, accomplishing things no human could do. She throws her arms against the glass repeatedly, her attack never slowing or faltering until her skin splits in her hands and her knuckles bleed.

Then, as quickly as it started, it stops and she falls to the floor among the pieces of broken chair she had kicked to splinters and the small drops of blood from her hands, covering her head with her arms and curling up against the wall. A few moments of dead, ringing silence later, the door creaks open and strong arms lift her into the air by the tops of her own arms, gripping her shirt and hair to keep her still and dragging her out of the room, kicking and screaming.

She's brought back quietly, her head hanging and her feet dragging.

This happens every day until one day, the deafening silence of the room continues after the door opens and she's dragged out. The girl doesn't struggle. She sits quietly, beautifully. Beautiful submission.

The rest of the base barely knows why they're there. They hear whispers and catch glimpses of the secret ward. The phantom prisoner of the opera house. Quietly she exists there, quietly she resists, and quietly she goes completely without bringing any trouble. Until.

Until one day, all of the lights shut off.

Amy and Rory went in two weeks ago, disguised as soldiers in the privately owned military, sneaking about and keeping their heads down. They barely looked at each other for days. But, that was when they received the message. Amy checked her borrowed psychic paper and saw the words, _Show time. _scrawled across it and grabbed Rory.

They snuck up a very carefully scoped out and pre-planned route to the control room where three guards sat, watching the monitors from all of the security cameras. Rory had been at that post once, but he never once saw Ari. They easily decommission the group of unsuspecting dozers and Amy found the main power plug. With a small grunt, she yanked it out of the wall and the world went dark. Rory activated his flash light. And then they waited. Two minutes.

At the disappearance of light, the girl raises her head, wincing at the movement. _Finally. _

Two minutes later, a screech comes over the intercoms and Rory turns on the emergency spot light, waving it around like the Doctor insisted he do, appealing to the Time Lord's dramatic flare. "Sorry about the power, everyone, but I do so love making an entrance." the Doctor's voice echoes off of the walls, but he is still unseen. "I'm getting a sense of deja vu, here. This has happened before, if I recall correctly. Last time, I allowed you to run. To hide. To escape. This time, I won't be making that mistake," suddenly, there's a burst of blue light and a crowd of mismatched people appears down in the main hall. The Doctor's Army. A lizard woman by the name of Vastra presses a button on her wrist, making a huge clang, effectively trapping all of the soldiers and operatives inside the base.

"This time, if you run, you die. Normally, I'd advise you not to run, but honestly, I just don't care at this point." he continues casually. "Not just me you should worry about, either, there are people among you that you cannot trust," Amy and Rory glance at each other, "Ponder this stirring revelation while you direct your attention to stage left." on the platform in the main hall, there's a pillar and when the spotlight swings towards it, the Doctor is seen standing there, dressed in his green army jacket with an eyedrive pressed over his right eye, like all of the others in his team. He looks out at the soldiers in the hall thoughtfully. "Hello. I'm here to collect my daughter."

The girl lets out a strangled, choking laugh that cuts off quickly, her throat closing her and her nerves flooding with relief and anxiety at the same time. She rises slowly, taking a shuddering breath, knowing there will be guards coming for her.

Rory swivels in his chair when the door opens and two Silurians enter, shoving a disgruntled and rumpled looking Madame Kovarian in before them, who falls to her knees in front of Rory's feet. "Long time, no see." he says nonchalantly. "Last time I saw you, you took my baby from me. And then I killed you. Pesky alternate universes. How about we try again?" Amy glares down at the woman. "The Doctor will want to speak with her, first." a lizard woman says. "In a while, then." Amy snaps, crossing her arms. "If, by some chance, she is in any way harmed when I find her, you will all have me to pay." the Doctor concludes and drops the microphone in his hand, walking off of the stage.

He heads straight for a secluded corner where the Paternoster Gang wait for him. Madame Vastra the Silurian, Jenny Flint the Victorian Chamber Maid, and Strax the Sontaran. "Have you found her?" the Doctor asks. "On level 22, the scans barely picked her up." Jenny supplies and the Doctor waits. "She's locked in there pretty tight, though. We can't get the door open."

Strax takes this time to add, "But all vital signs are good." They lead the Doctor to an elevator and Vastra presses the button for the level 22 floors beneath the ground. The Doctor growls at the sluggish pace of the lift, aiming his sonic at it and boosting the speed, getting them there in seconds. They exit and the Doctor gestures for them to lead on, running after them when they set off down the hall. After a few twists and turns, they come to a door guarded by his people, several unconscious soldiers littering the floor. It's steel reinforced and shut tight, no way to get in, even with the sonic.

"It's password protected, sir. And the operatives are unconscious." Strax informs the Doctor. He motions to one and two humanoids lift the operative to his feet, the head lolling to the side. The Doctor smacks him and the man jerks awake. Upon seeing the Time Lord right in front of him, he panics. "Password." the Doctor lifts the sonic like a weapon. The man rattles off a number code, terrified and the Doctor enters it into the keypad to the side of the door. So much for advanced security. The door clicks open and swings inward, revealing a room, mostly bare, only a mattress dressed in thin white sheets to the side and a heavily warped metal table in the center. And a girl with short curly hair curled up in the corner.

"Ari." the Doctor croaks, walking in and towards her slowly, as if trying not to scare her. She lifts her head, aiming green eyes at him with bruises underneath, rimmed with red. From crying or lack of sleep, the Doctor can't tell. "Ari," he says again, stepping farther into the room. She gazes up at him for a long moment, before heaving herself up with what appears to be great effort and throws herself into his arms, colliding solidly with his chest and clinging to his coat. And then, not really out of relief and more out of absolute exhaustion, her legs give out.

The Doctor holds her up, lifting her off of her feet and she wraps her arms tightly around his neck, face still buried into his jacket, small, almost-sobs forcing their way out of her mouth. The Doctor turns and steps into the hall, away from the room and curious eyes. They make their way back to the elevator and stand just outside of it, the Doctor putting Ari down and holding her steady by the arms. "Hi." Ari mutters, glancing up at him sheepishly. "Are you alright?" He scans her with the sonic and checks her over for wounds. Her hands are bandaged messily, like she did it herself, and there are bruises scattering her arms, ranging from blue and purple to yellow with age.

"What have they done to you?" He asks, dropping a hand to her hair. She shrugs noncommittally and rubs the back of her neck. "Doctor, I would suggest moving to a more secure location," Vastra says and Ari looks up at the lizard woman passively, unsurprised by her reptilian appearance. The Doctor nods, pressing the button to call the lift and wrapping an arm around Ari's skinny shoulders, much thinner than they were before. The elevator sounds and the doors slide open smoothly, allowing the bunch to step in and for Ari to look at Strax with distaste.

"What are you looking at, boy?" Strax asks her gruffly. Ari looks down at herself curiously, wondering if she has developed a boyish appearance. She's small and bedraggled, but easily identified as female. "Are you some renegade Sontaran?" she asks, leaning against the wall. She'd like to say it was for effect, but truthfully she's just so tired. "I was a nurse." he grumbles unhappily and Ari lets out a small laugh.

They arrive back at the main floor and step out, Ari looking around. She had noticed the Doctor's eyedrive and sees that all of his people have them. To remember the Silents, she had been told. She doesn't need it. She remembers them just fine on her own. The Doctor's army are corralling and securing enemy operatives, binding them in handcuffs and guarding them with guns. They all watch as the Doctor passes, eyes falling to Ari walking quietly next to him, her head tilted downwards and her hands stuffed into her pockets. Her shirt droops off of one shoulder and her over sized pants brush the floor, it's almost difficult to believe that something so pitiful looking could cause such trouble.

They reach a flight of stairs and the Doctor leads the way, walking up and up until the reach a landing with a door into a room looking over the hangar. Vastra nudges the door open and reveals Amy and Rory sitting in the security room with a bound Madame Kovarian by their feet, who turns her head to sneer in their direction. "Ari." Amy says, yanking the girl into a rib crushing hug and running a hand through her curls. Ari wraps her arms around Amy's waist curiously, never having embraced the woman before.

Rory pushes his wife out of the way and hugs Ari gently, ending it with a pat on the back that she barely felt, as though he thought he may break her. And then Ari's eyes flicker to Madame Kovarian. The woman grins at her mockingly, but smartly doesn't speak for fear of saying the wrong thing in front of the Doctor, who simply nods at Vastra and says, "Take her somewhere else, I'll come in a minute."

Then, he kneels in front of Ari, really looking her over in the brighter lighting and tugging her hands out of her pockets, frowning in concern at the messy bandages on her fingers and her pale skin, freckles sticking out prominently, more unhealthy than porcelain like it was. He pulls back the cottony wraps from her fingers and examines the bruised, ripped skin, like she's been punching. Then, his gaze travels up her arm to the bruises that look suspiciously like hand prints. Large ones, capable of wrapping all the way around her forearm, pressing into the skin harshly. The longer he looks, the more red he sees, the more his head and hearts boil with anger. But he won't say anything here, he controls his expression and gives Ari a tight lipped smile.

He rises, kisses the top of her head on the part in her hair, shrugs off his jacket to drop it onto her shoulders and turns to leave. "Don't hurt them." Ari calls after his retreating back quietly, a whisper bouncing off the walls of the room and around his brain. He turns his head just enough to nod at her and Amy settles her hands on Ari's arms, rubbing up and down soothingly. She doesn't know if he'll listen.


	9. The Architect

**A/N: Over 1,000 reads! Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to the guest who reviewed my story under the name of Shy Apple. It was very sweet, so here you go. **

The Doctor walks calmly down the hall to where he sees Vastra waiting outside of a door, standing straight and gazing at him. "I'll only be a moment." the Doctor states, and it's true, he has a traumatized child to get back to. Vastra nods and steps away, allowing the Doctor to pass through the door and lock it behind him.

"Doctor." Madame Vastra says, sitting straighter in her chair, trying to dignify herself even though her eyedrive is askew and her hair is mussed. Her suit jacket is ripped and her eyes dart around, as if sitting in wait for something.

He sits calmly, leaning back, even though he has no idea what to do with her. He knows what he wants to do. He wants to kill her. He wants her executed, put to death for what she's done, he wants her eyedrive to frame and hang upon his wall to show anyone and everyone what exactly happens to those who think it's in any way a good idea to cross him and harm the people he loves. But he won't because he can't. He's a doctor, the Doctor. He doesn't murder people, humans, he delivers them to people who are authorized to deal out punishment, he does not give out death sentences. That isn't who the Doctor is. But he seems to keep forgetting that, more and more.

He is not a god, he is a man. He tries to enforce that rule upon himself and the people he meets. But… why does the word "doctor" mean warrior in the Gamma Forests?

And there's also Ari. Ari, who trusts him completely, who urged him not to harm anyone. Who said they were not to blame for what was done to her, when in truth, the woman to blame is sitting across from him. He remembers what Kim said on the moon. Ari is his redemption.

"This won't take long, I promise. I've got a kid to get back to, you know." the Doctor says conversationally. Kovarian nods her compliance but the look in her eyes says something has gone terribly wrong for her tonight. Something terribly wrong indeed. And nothing makes the Doctor happier in that moment than that particular thought.

"Is she another weapon to use against me?" The Doctor asks. "Oh no, not at all." Kovarian shakes her head with a smile. "What did you do to her?" The Doctor snaps. "Why? Are you worried she won't be re same Ari anymore?" Kovarian wonders mockingly. "No. I want to hear every detail. I want you to personally tell me. I want you to see my face when I tell you what is going to you afterwards when you finish."

So, for over an hour, Kovarian talks. She describes every second of Ari's time at the Opera House with great detail, not because she takes pleasure in it, but because she's afraid of what will happen if she stops talking, even for a second. She was never one to be intimidated, but now is the exception. And the Doctor sits, his face frozen in a look of quiet rage, until she finishes. He rises from the table and she waits for her verdict, almost expecting him to strike her down then and there.

Instead, he exits the room and slams the door violently behind him, coming face to face with River. He had picked her up and explained the situation to her after visiting her future self, and right now she looks stricken. "Is she in there?" River gasps out, looking towards the door behind him. He ignores her, looking to Vastra. "Do whatever you want with her. Lock her up, kill her, have her for lunch... It makes no difference to me." The Doctor says and the surprised Silurian nods curtly, watching his retreating back all the way down the hall.

"Doctor, our child-" River begins to say but he just looks at her coldly. "Is fine. And in need of us." He finishes and pushes open the monitor room's door, stepping in and smiling at Ari sitting in a chair quietly. She looks at him and River and moves to stand, but stills when Rory puts a hand on her shoulder. "What did I say about relaxing?" He warns and River walks over, running a hand through the girl's curly hair. "Are we going to go, now?" Ari questions quietly and the Doctor melts, nodding. The TARDIS is parked outside of the base. With a glance, River exits to collect it, the noise sounding seconds after her footsteps disappear down the hall.

Ari gets up to stumble into the TARDIS to travel down the hall to her bedroom, walking straight into the bathroom and turning on the shower. Her sobs fill the bathroom, echoing off of the walls and her tears mix with the faucet water. She stands under the spray long enough for the tears to stop and then the TARDIS gives her a cold blast, telling her to get out and face the masses. She tugs on a pair of leggings and a Audrey Hepburn shirt, brushing her hair on her wander back to console room.

As she emerges inside, she's faced with four concerned gazes. She realizes her face must be pale and her eyes puffy and red. When she cries, her cheeks grow pale and her eyes turn red. River walks over to her and brushes her damp hair off of her face, pulling her into a gentle hug. "Are you alright?" River asks. _No, I'm shattering slowly, as if the glue is melting away instead of breaking apart all at once. I can't breathe and I can't see and I can barely stand. I'm terrified of what happened to me. _

"Fine." Ari dismisses. River turns Ari's face to examine the hand shaped bruise wrapping around her neck and gripping onto her jaw. The Doctor grinds his teeth when he sees it. "Fine?" River raises her eyebrows. "Just a few bangs and bruises. I'm fine." Ari repeats herself with more force despite wanting to admit to the exact opposite.

River jumps at that moment and tugs a leather wallet out of her pocket, exactly like the one that holds the Doctor's psychic paper. She reads the message and looks at the Doctor curiously, who simply raises his eyebrows from his place, leaning against the console. "Go." Ari nods. "You need me." River argues. "Nah. I'm not that clingy." Ari shakes her head with a smile. River edges towards the door, but still looks unsure. "Give him hell." Ari says and River grins widely. "Don't I always?" Her eyes flit to the Doctor, who remembers himself and nods in agreement. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

River leaves, stepping out of a TARDIS, opening the door just wide enough to show a younger Doctor's shocked look and they all hear her greet, "Hello, sweetie." The Doctor inside of the TARDIS takes off again as soon as the door closes. Then, when Ari lifts her hand to brush some hair out of her eyes, he sees it. On her forearm, just below the curve of the inside of her elbow, there's a thick black tattoo of curves and circles, traced there permanently, staring out at him.

"What the hell is that?" He snaps and Ari jumps, looking up to the Doctor and then down to her arm. "Trial one?" She offers, reading out what it says. "I know what it says, Arkytior. We're you going to tell me?" The Doctor pushes off of the console and approaches her quickly, long legs devouring the space in seconds. She cowers away from him instinctively, then straightens up, flushing. But the Doctor slows and reaches out with his hand up as if trying to prove he's not dangerous. She gives him her arm and bites her lip. He doesn't understand how he didn't see it before.

"It was just there one day." Ari whispers. "It's okay. I'm not angry. Ari?" He calls her eyes back to his face. "I'm not upset with you. I never am." He assures her and she nods, rubbing at her stinging eyes. After crying and barely sleeping, they burn and itch. "C'mon." He turns her around by the shoulders and pushes her back down the corridor, steering her into her bedroom, her feet meeting thick carpeting. He points towards the bed and she settles under the blankets, curling up and tilting her head to look at him. He leaves and Ari stares at the wall for a while.

Eventually, she convinces herself that he won't mind and climbs out of bed, pulling socks onto her feet and pads down the hall and making her way into the vast library. Entering, she navigates the shelves and climbs to the second floor, finding the large fireplace and assortment of couches where she knows the Doctor spends his nights, reading. Sure enough, there he sits, round reading glasses perched on his nose, which is stuffed in a book. She's behind him, his head bent down, but he still addresses her. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" He asks and she bites her lip, coming around so he can see her. "Can I stay here? For the night?" She asks, feeling like a child, slightly embarrassed. "Of course." the Doctor assures her, moving over and throwing one of the pillows by his arm onto the opposite end of the couch, giving her a pillow to lay next to him, knowing she won't need much room and goes back to his book, the fire in front of them heating his face.

She flops down onto the couch and huffs into the cushion beneath her head, curling her legs to her stomach and casting glances at her father as he sits, reading his book. Reaching up to grab the fluffy throw blanket above her head, tosses the pillow into his lap and before the Doctor can even finish his noise of surprise, she has her head on the pillow and the blanket covering her entire body, balled up and tucked into his side, facing the fire and his book hovering above her head. She wraps her arms up against herself and sighs in exhaustion, stilling her fidgety feet and sinking into the couch.

"Good night, Ari." he speaks into the silent library and continues reading, resigning himself to his position and being glad it's at least a comfortable one. About an hour later, Amy comes in, presumably to tell him she's retiring, and stops at the sight before her. "Is she okay?" Amy asks quietly, minding the sleeping girl. "A bit of separation anxiety, but she'll be fine." the Doctor replies, smiling pleasantly up at his companion. "How do you know?" Amy demands, crossing her arms. "She's a Pond, isn't she?" the Doctor puts his book down, dog earing it on the arm rest.

"Just, look out for her, Doctor. And let her know you're there for her. I know," she carries on, holding up a finger for him to hold his protests, "I know she should already know that and that you shouldn't have to tell her. But Ari's a bit… closed off, if you haven't noticed. And she went through a lot and is insisting she's okay. Just make sure to make it obvious and up front that you want nothing more than to help. And yes, that is grandmotherly advice." Amy arches her eyebrow, challenging the Doctor to say something. "Yes ma'am." is all she gets in response. She nods, seemingly satisfied, and touches his shoulder as she passes on her way out. "See you in the morning, Raggedy Man."

Ari clutches her hands tighter to her chest and lets out a breathy noise of discomfort a moment later, disrupting the silence. The Doctor peers down at her, setting the book aside and touching her shoulder, noticing her face twisted into a grimace. "Ari, wake up." the Doctor urges her and she goes to bat his hand away, shying away from it. "Ari," he repeats and she gasps, shooting up and awake, flailing her arms out and hitting his chest before she realizes where she is. "Ari." the Doctor says softly and she looks up at him. "I'm fine." she replies, pressing her face into her hands. "Are you?" the Doctor questions. Tilting her head, she ignores him. Finally, she drops back down and closes her eyes again. "What was your dream about?" the Doctor whispers. "Fear turns people into monsters, Dad. Which is why we should never be afraid." Ari mumbles. "What're you scared of?" the Doctor touches her hair. "What is everyone scared of?" she retaliates, then her breathing evens out, her last statement before she reaches sleep echoing around in his big brain.

The next weeks only make it worse. The next morning, the Doctor took Amy's advice, but all Ari did was nod and retreat to her room. And she stays there almost all day, only venturing out for food, burying herself in books and sometimes, when the Doctor walks by, he can hear scratching, but when he walks in, he never sees any evidence of the written word. Every night, there are nightmares. It started with waking in a cold sweat, but soon turns into horrors she can't break out of by herself, only staying locked in the throes of the bad dream until her screams call someone to wake her up. Usually it was the Doctor, but then she'd only thank him and roll over, never willing to talk about it.

And when they did see each other during the day, he couldn't get her to talk. Neither could Amy, or Rory, or River. Ari even retreated from the TARDIS, blocking her mind heavily from the telepathic circuiting, limiting access and turning the machine into a very unhappy sentient vessel, constantly nagging her Thief about something seemingly beyond his control. Finally, Amy snaps.

"Aren't you going to do anything?" she yells at the Doctor, sitting in the console room, tinkering. He looks up, startled by the angry ginger. "I'm sorry?" he offers, confused. "You should be. Can't you tell your daughter is depressed? She isn't in a funk, Doctor. This isn't some hormonal teenager thing. She's very upset, something is seriously wrong. You need to help her." she bites out. "What do you want me to do? I can't force her." the Doctor argues. "The hell you can't. Do you remember when you were looking for her, you didn't eat or sleep are speak to us." Amy says, sitting across from him. "Yes." the Doctor says uncomfortably. "And what did we do? We made you eat and sleep and forced you into conversation. We helped you when you seemed like you didn't want it. She wants your help, Doctor. Just like you really wanted ours." Amy explains, glaring at him meaningfully. The Doctor nods and when Amy leaves, he steels himself. Then, he rises and walks to Ari's room, knocking on the door before entering with no answer, sighing when he sees Ari lying in bed, curled on her side in the dark, scribbling.

"When's the last time you've eaten?" the Doctor asks her and she just ducks her head, ignoring him. "Rory cooked last night. I think there's some leftovers, pasta or something noodley." he continues, stepping farther into the room. No response. He sighs heavily and grabs the end of the comforter hanging off of her bed, yanking it away from her and she looks up to glare at him. "What was that for?" she asks, scowling and stuffing what he now sees is a sketchbook underneath her pillow, along with colored pencils, both of her hands smeared with the colors from them and the page. Her hair is a mess, still damp from her shower and her clothes are rumpled from hiding under her blankets all day.

Her shirt has ridden up and the Doctor can see the heavy bags under her eyes, matching her unhealthily thin frame and pinched mouth. Her hip bones stick dangerously against her skin and the Doctor wonders if they'll tear through. She isn't well.

"You need to get out of this room. Eat something, say something, like a person." The Doctor folds his arms and once again, Ari looks away from him. "I just wanna be alone. I can't... I can't talk about it." She whispers into her lap, looking down at her feet. "You need to. Believe you me, it won't get any better until you do." He says, staring her down. "Did you?" Ari asks, her volume rising above a whisper. "What?" The Doctor sits on the edge of her bed.

"Where are the Time Lords, Dad?" Ari looks up into his eyes. The Doctor freezes, looking at her very carefully. "They said... Did you kill them?" Ari asks, her face drawn with disbelief. The Doctor swallows, then nods slowly. "Yes. The war, the Time War, like I heard about in the Void, they said they burned. Why did you do it?" Ari asks. "The Time War would've destroyed everything. The Time Lords had turned into monsters and the Daleks were winning. I had to stop it." The Doctor says, then pauses, looking down at Ari with some sort of horror in his face. "Do I frighten you?" The Doctor knows he would never, ever hurt her, not for anything, but she may not be so sure.

And Ari, who always tries to be honest to balance out her father's constant lying, shrugs, lacing and twisting her fingers. The Doctor sits on her bed next to her, dropping down onto the edge and pulling her head forward by the back of her neck, kissing the top of her head. "I would never do anything to hurt you. You have to believe me, I only want to help you." He says, pulling back to look at her. Ari leans forward to drop her head onto his shoulder but before he can wonder about it, her back starts to shudder and she lets out a choked sob.

The Doctor starts at the sudden flip in mood, but it's like a dam busts somewhere deep inside of Ari's soul. Her hearts shatter and the walls she set up in her mind at the Doctor's insistence to protect herself and exercise her newly found psychic abilities come crashing down. She yelps at the sudden onslaught of psychic energy and the release of her abused mind and buries her face further into her coat as her mind swirls in a hurricane. The Doctor feels her emotions, too, he gets small whispers of everyone he touches, little more than a feeling of déjà vu when they make contact. Like when you cry simply because someone else is sad. But, with another of his species, a compatible, strong, telepathic mind it's much more intense.

She's terrified, not of him. After weeks, she's still scared as if she never left. As if she was never saved. And she's furious, enraged and burning with hate and heated violence. There are flashes, quick shots of memories and inklings of scenarios she found herself in, let out with every forceful sob. Barely enough to comprehend, but enough to make the Doctor wish he hadn't let Vastra take Madame Kovarian.

The Doctor tugs her closer and puts his hand to her hair, settling more comfortably on the bed and wrapping her closely into his embrace. "Ari," the Doctor says, worried she might choke and hyperventilate as gasps into his shoulder. Sometimes, when you cry, all of the pain tries to work its way up your throat all at once, so all that gets released are strangled, desperate sobs that are just as pitiful as you probably feel in that moment. "Little Pond." The Doctor starts muttering soothing words in Gallifreyan quite by accident and Ari understands much of it, she had been practicing the language previously, but still had trouble using her human-trained palate to its full alien potential.

Long forgotten father-skills kick in and the Doctor adjusts Ari so she isn't slumped and pulls her in comfortably, pressing a hand into her back to hold her tightly against his chest. She sniffles a little, just enough to choke out, "Jesus." In a self-deprecating manner. Still just enough restraint left to be appalled. Perhaps she would've said more, but another choked off whine rips its way free of her throat to lodge itself into the Doctor's chest, cracking his hearts just a little more. There always comes a time in every parent's life where their child will cry, and the parent will feel as though they are dying because they are sure the poor thing will never be right again and dear lord it's all their fault. And the parent will cry, too, maybe more than the kid, which of course only startles the crying child more. The Doctor doesn't cry, no matter that he literally feels what Ari does, but he doesn't because he won't scare her.

They sit there for what feels like hours, until the sobbing stops and the hiccups start, Ari brushing her eyes and chancing glances up at the Doctor curiously through her eyelashes, glued together with tears. She ended up curled in his lap like a five year old and moves away from him, hating to be coddled and also hating to cry in front of anyone. "My head hurts." she finally says, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and pausing to press her temple with her fingers. The Doctor laughs. After all of the memories he saw swimming in her mind after her barriers fell into the dust, and _her head hurts. _

The Doctor gives her a small smile and runs his hand through her hair, pushing it out of her eyes and with the contact, sending soothing thoughts to her that way. "You said something about pasta?" Ari asks hopefully and they hear her stomach rumbling.

While Kovarian waits in her cell for her inevitable punishing to arrive, she hears the sound of purposeful footsteps sounding down the hallway. The sound of shiny shoes hitting the tiles and marching towards her. The door opens and a sillouette is cast across the floor towards her. The door clicks very gently closed and and Kovarian doesn't dare look up.

Even when he slides into the chair across from her, she doesn't make eye contact. "Madame." His voice calls her eyes to his own. So dark his pupils nearly mix with his irises. "Mr. Architect." Kovarian says by way of greeting. "What went wrong? Why has the subject escaped?" The Architect asks, frowning down at Kovarian with barely a twitch of his lips. "The child is very well protected. We did expect this would happen. Trial one was completed." Kovarian supplies. "Yes. But she will be under stronger surveillance, now. The girl will be even harder to lay hands on and I'm sure people will be less than keen to assist after the Sontaran incident." The Architect scolds. "Yes sir." Kovarian agrees. "Good bye, Madame Kovarian." He says quietly.


	10. Payroll

**A/N: Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it ! And for those who don't, I hope you've had a great day thus far. So, here is my present to you all. I know I said I was hoping to have my own Christmas Special out today, but I seriously underestimated the amount of chapters I would've had to produce to make that possible. So, suck it up, it'll be out soon. **

Ari sits in the kitchen, shoveling pasta and some creamy cheese sauce into her mouth as civilly as possible. The Doctor sits across from her and monitors, making sure she eats everything in front of her. Amy stands in the doorway, smiling at them both sitting in the 50's style booth, leftovers sitting out on the island, the fridge hanging open. She walks in and closes it and Ari looks up at her sheepishly when she does. "Hey." Amy says casually, but looks to the Doctor, who nods discreetly behind Ari's head.

"You still here?" Ari tries to make light of the rapidly growing tense atmosphere. "Oh yeah, no getting rid of us." Amy quips, settling her hands on Ari's shoulders. The Doctor jumps slightly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his psychic paper, glancing at the message curiously for a moment before putting it away again. "What is it?" Ari asks curiously. "It can wait." he smiles at her, noting her empty plate. "No. What is it?" Ari asks. "A call from Kate Stewart at UNIT." the Doctor shrugs. "Aren't you going to go?" Ari says expectantly. "No. It's not my job to come every time they call. I'm not the Earth's mother." the Doctor crosses his arms contentedly. "You are on their payroll." Ari reminds him.

The Doctor simply smiles at her and she realizes what he's doing. He's keeping her in the TARDIS, trying to make her better. Again. "C'mon. You need a run just as much as I do. A nice alien invasion." Ari urges, batting her eyelashes at him. The Doctor would say she used her large eyes and freckles against him if asked, but honestly he just wasn't ready to deny her anything, yet.

"Oh, alright then. C'mon." The Doctor rises and Ari jumps up to follow him, trailing after him into the console room. "So! London, England, 2014, possible alien invasion!" The Doctor shouts, startling Rory, who just wandered in. Ari throws the switches and sloppily adjusts the controls just like the Doctor, just the right amount of off center and throws the lever upwards while the Doctor watches, impressed, setting coordinates. After a few moments of harsh shaking, they land with a thump.

"Where'd we land?" Rory asks. "Your house." Ari replies, smiling at him cheekily. Amy pokes her head out and looks around, sniffing at the living room that is dim and cold and seems to be very empty, like no one has lived here in a while. "What's the date?" Amy asks suspiciously. The Doctor checks and grins. "About a week after I picked you up." He winks at them. "Good aim." Rory compliments Ari. "Why thank you muchly." She smiles at him and steps out, looking around. "Nice place. You said you're a nurse?" Ari looks at Rory, wondering how a young half time nurse could afford a house like this in the middle of London. "Yeah. The Doctor got us the house. And the car outside." Rory nods to the window. Ari checks, then looks at the Doctor curiously. He drives what could be thought of as the greatest vehicle in the universe and spends an obnoxious amount of time messing with it, but Ari just can't picture him as a guy who knows cars.

The alien in question goes into the kitchen, snatching the landline up. "We're here. Amy and Rory's house, you met them last time." He says when someone answers. "Fine, yes. I'm bringing someone with me. I hope you don't mind." Then he hangs up and smiles at the Ponds, including the little one, clapping Rory and Amy on the shoulder. "A car'll be here in a few minutes." the Doctor announces, seeming to be very relaxed in a manner that is totally out of character for him. Rory checks his watch. "Oh, wow, actually, I have to get to work." he says, jumping in surprise. After getting promises of calling, Rory goes up the stairs to change for work. A black car pulls up outside a few minutes later, and a tall woman steps out, wearing dress slacks, a green shirt, a colorful scarf and blonde hair steps out of the back seat, approaching the door. She knocks and Amy lets her in, smiling kindly at her.

"Ah, hello." Kate says pleasantly, then sees the Doctor. "Doctor, how long has it been?" her eyes twinkle with a hidden joke. "About… three years, at least, I'd say." the Doctor replies casually and Kate nods, unsurprised. Then she sees the curly headed girl behind the Doctor and walks over to her with her hand outstretched as if to shake, but Kate is wary of her. She knows all of the Doctor's companions, makes it her business to. "Arkytior Pond." Ari says, smiling warmly and nearly laughing when Kate's eyebrows climb to her hairline with shock at the obviously Gallifreyan given name. "But, you can call me Ari." the girl continues with a nod.

"Very nice to meet you." Kate finally forces out. "Doctor." she nods her head into the foyer and he nods, allowing her to lead him away. "Who _is _she?" Kate asks. "My child." the Doctor says, like it's obvious. "Your child?" Kate repeats, then leans around the wall to look back at Ari, talking quietly to Amy. "Right. Since when do you have a child?" Kate clenches her jaw. The Doctor pauses, but then simply shrugs uncomfortably. "Time travel. Keeps you on your toes." the Doctor replies.

"Fine. Right," they make their way back into the sitting room, "There have been some disturbances lately. People have been disappearing off of the street constantly. It wouldn't be suspicious, but the last places they would've been seen are swimming in high readings of saline static, a common effect of-" Kate says, pulling a file out of her bag to hand to the Doctor. "Spatio-temporal corporeal extraction." he concludes for her, winking. "Yes." Kate nods as Ari peeks over the Doctor's arm to examine the files he flips through. "What's that mean?" Amy asks. "It means, someone is transporting people. You focus in on a specific person using DNA coding and with the click of a button you can send them somewhere else without ever having to let them know about it." the Doctor explains and Ari looks at the profiles of the abducted people curiously. Just normal people; different races, religions, social groups, occupations, medical records, habits, incomes. "There's no connection." Ari states and the Doctor glances at her. "No. None that we could find. But there has to be something." Kate huffs. "Is there a third party that may be responsible? A possible place they all could've visited not included here? Bank, insurance company, restaurant, hospital?" Ari presses and the Doctor nods along with her words.

"Well, we could look again. But we'd need to get back to HQ." Kate admits. "Wonderful." Ari claps her hands and grins. Amy admires how very similar to the Doctor she is. They all file out to the car and Ari takes the Doctor's hand. He looks down at her to see her eyeing him, ready to ask a question. "Where are we going, exactly?" The Doctor nods at Kate. "She's the Chief Scientific Officer of UNIT. That's Unified Intelligence Taskforce. Super secret part of the government, deals with alien threats. We're going to their headquarters beneath the Tower of London." the Doctor summarizes. "Of course. And is the secret alien immigration center controlled by Jodrell Bank run out of a maid closet in Buckingham Palace?" Ari says snarkily. The Doctor just smiles as they climb into the back seat. "You're kidding me." Ari says, then grips his arm. "Tell me you aren't serious." The Doctor drops an arm over her shoulders and leans close to her ear. "Where do you think I got my green card from?" he jests and Ari sighs, rolling her eyes.

They reach the Tower and then the secret base beneath it. "Jesus Christ." Ari mutters as they walk in, breathing the funnelled in, sterilized air and examining the people in front of the computer monitors all around, clicking away and speaking quietly to one another. The Doctor walks up to the young man in front of the closest set of screens, his back to the approaching alien until the Doctor cheers, "Glasses!"

The man swivels and looks up at the Doctor. "Sir." he-Glasses-replies. "So… suspicious disappearances. Tell me about them." the Doctor says as Ari leans into his side, still fatigued and somewhat ill looking. The Doctor puts a hand to her head absently,shrugging out of his jacket and dropping it onto her shoulders, busy listening to what Glasses is telling him about the victims. Ari reads everything they have on them when suddenly, "Medical research." Everyone turns to look at her. "I'm sorry?" Kate asks, coming forward. "You should be. It's obvious. They were all involved in some sort of medical research. One man because it gives him a little extra money, this woman is a doctor, all of these people are involved on trying medicines on humans." she says, then shoves Glasses out of the way in his rolling chair, clicking around for a moment before finding what she's looking for. A company name. "The Company of Architecture. Ever heard of them?" the Doctor asks and everyone shakes their heads. "The Company of Architecture. Building a better future." Ari reads their slogan inscribed on the logo flashing across the screen.

Amy's phone rings.

She flushes, then pulls it out of her bag, pressing it to her ear. "Hello?" she hisses. "Um, Amy, you guys should probably come back. I was leaving for work and there are these… people standing outside. They have guns. They're not from UNIT." Rory says and he can be heard over the line by everyone else in the room. "Rory, stay inside, we're coming." Amy says and hangs up, looking at the Doctor expectantly. "We're leaving, Rory's in trouble." she decides and starts walking towards the door. The Doctor, Ari and Kate follow quickly after her. "Amy!" the Doctor calls as she climbs into the car without waiting. They get in too, and zip off.

Arriving in front of Amy and Rory's house, there's no one visibly there, but Rory is waving frantically at them from the window. They walk in, the door bolting behind them and then Rory heaves a sigh. "I was in the window calling, and as soon as I hung up they just left. Lined up and went marching down the street. I don't know who they were." Rory explains, stuffing his hands into his jacket pocket over his hospital scrubs. Suddenly, the room is filled with a white light. Burning their eyes as a high pitched squealed ringing fills their ears. The Doctor moves to grab Ari and run just as the noise and light shut off as quickly as they started. Only, two of their party are missing. Ari and the Doctor vanished along with it.


	11. Company of Architecture

**A/N: So, I feel like maybe it would be responsible of me to add a trigger warning. So, TW for non-graphic scientific experimentation without consent, non-graphic descriptions of pain and some scientists being general sociopaths (not the fun high-functioning kind, either). **

The Doctor awakens, feeling groggy and disoriented. It's as if his entire tongue has swelled up in his mouth and his throat was coated with sand. He opens his eyes, practically hearing the skin ripping when he wrenches his eye lids apart. He's momentarily blinded by what may have been a bright light, but upon further inspection is actually just a bright white room. White ceiling, white floor, three white walls. The third is a tinted window. He lies on a thin white sheet covering an operating table surrounded with trays and beeping machines, humming with electricity.

"He's awake," a woman's voice says, sounding annoyed. A male answers her. "We could try and double the dosage, but it might stop his hearts." he says thoughtfully. The Doctor looks around, spotting the two standing by his feet, wearing surgical gowns, masks pulled down under their chins and gloves covering their hands. Paper caps cover the tops of their heads. The Doctor remembers, hazily, that he was at Amy and Rory's house and there had been people there. He and Ari... _Ari. _

"Who're you?" he rasps after several tries, speaking with his dead tongue and dry throat. They ignore him. "I can't perform my tests if he's awake," the woman complains in a stern tone and the man stabs something into the Doctor's arm. He feels the drug making its way through his circulatory system and fights against it. "Where's Ari? What've you done with her?" he asks determinedly.

"He's resisting the medication." the man reports and the woman sighs, pulling up her mask and the man does the same. "I guess we'll just have to deal with the screaming," she says and sounds as though the idea is simply a minor inconvenience. The man moves forward and something digs into his arm, pulling a shout from the Doctor's already shredded throat. Hands of others he hasn't seen yet hold him down as the drill continues digging into his arm. What are they doing? Collecting bone marrow samples?

Amid the distressed thoughts that everyone gets when under duress of _dear god make it stop _and _I will give you anything if you stop it _swims a few more important, helpful details. _What are they looking for? What have they done with Ari?_

The shouting was what really set off the alarms in Ari's head. First, there was waking up in a white room on a table with a pounding head and no Doctor in sight. But then agonized screams made their way to her ears and into her brain. She knows something is very, very wrong.

The Doctor grits his teeth to muffle his screams. His back bows off of the table without permission from him as the scientists continue their work on him. He knows what they're doing, he's met these types of people before. Scientists who see something new and want to break it apart, figure out what makes it tick and how they can use it for their own personal gain. They are ruthless in their studies, taking pieces of bone and tissue and vial after vial of blood.

One, the woman, seems to simply be there to supervise and all she would do is direct and mutter thoughtfully whenever they got some new reaction. They had tried to knock him out, but whatever drugs they were using was being rejected by his system. "Interesting," she remarks, but then clears her throat. "We need him on his stomach for the spinal tap," she orders, impatiently sighing while they wait for him to stop convulsing. He's flipped over and sees a woman standing towards the corner of the room, standing over a table with all of the samples they took from him. She dares to meet his eyes and he uses the contact to plead with her.

She knows that there's a girl here, his child, and that eventually she'll be looking after the samples they take from her, but the Doctor's eyes beg her not to. To stop them.

She watches as he struggles, finding it difficult to remain passive as he's locked back into the restraints they had to put after it became apparent he'd be awake for the duration of their testing. It's her job to label and put away the samples they take, but she keeps looking at him. His face.

This isn't the first time this has happened. Some alien doesn't respond to the drugs they administer and is awake. Only, she finds it hard to see him as an alien because he looks like a human. There's proof right under her nose that he isn't, the samples in her hands, the monitor next to her going crazy with his erratic double heartbeats, but his face makes it hard for her to turn a blind eye.

But, the other woman in the room, Dr. Murphy wouldn't see it that way. To her, he's just another specimen to be dissected, only this time it appears to have a human face. And he keeps looking at her, as if she can do something. But she has to leave soon, to prep the other one. The girl. But dear God, as Lauren stares at him, she doesn't know how she'll be able to. She knew they were alien, she didn't know they didn't look alien. Once she saw the Doctor, she asked about the female.

They had said that she was the same species, the Doctor's daughter. Then they had gone on to say that she's 14. It's only a moment after they start digging into his spine that he mercifully passes out from the pain.

And then, moments after that, Lauren is sent to prep the girl. As she steps out of the room, she removes her face mask and goggles, allowing the tears in her eyes to flow down her face as she makes the trip down the hall. She wipes them away quickly once she reaches the door and wishes that there could be something for her to tell the girl. She's sorry? What good will that do? It won't save either one of them.

She steps into the locked room to find the girl awake and sitting against the far wall, folded in on herself. But, when the door shuts again with a click, she looks up and Lauren draws a sharp breath, faced with the same eyes she's been staring at for 12 hours before. She looks to be in her early teens, short dark brown curls in a mass around her head. And an oversized tweed coat wrapped tightly around her, matching the clothes the Doctor had been in when he was delivered to them.

"Is he dead?" the girl asks, glaring at her balefully. "No, unconscious," Lauren replies, clenching her fists nervously.

"What're you doing to him?" Ari asks, ice in her voice, her green eyes cold. "Testing. Taking samples. It shouldn't have been like this, we tried sedatives," Lauren desperately wants to defend her employers and herself. "And when they didn't work you just went ahead and started anyway." Ari says scornfully, her anger hiding the fact that she's terrified.

"It-it's supposed to be helping people. They... when I started this was all to make humanity better. Cure diseases." Lauren pleads. Ari scoffs. "Did it sound like you were making anything better a few minutes ago?" Ari glares at the young scientist. Lauren averts her eyes and swallows back a guilty breath.

Ari looks her over and lets out a mirthless chuckle. "You're scared. You didn't like being in there, did you? You've done it before, but those were aliens. It's harder when the thing you're torturing looks like a man. He doesn't have tentacles or an odd constitution. He might have your father's hair and your girlfriend's eyes. It kills you inside to see what would appear to be someone like you screaming." Ari accuses and Lauren coughs out a small hiccup. "I'm sorry," she whimpers, pleading with the girl's pitiless green eyes.

"Oh, I don't care. Sorry won't help him." Ari bites out, glaring at her. A voice speaks into Lauren's ear. "_He's_ coming to see the female." it warns her and her blood runs cold. The Architect doesn't come out of his cave for anything. She casts one last apologetic glance at the girl before clearing out.

Ari watches her go, a look of blatant disgust on her face. As Lauren leaves, a figure steps into the room. Ari raises her eyes and looks into an unfamiliar face.

But there's something wrong. There's familiarity in his eyes, he seems to know her. "Hello, I'm the Architect." he says and Ari nods mutely. Somehow, the name sounds familiar, but they've certainly never met before. But it isn't a far jump to say he may be related to the Opera House incident.

"I'm here to inquire what it is that you are. We at the Company investigate any and all alien activity, but I can't say that I recognize exactly what you are. At least, not entirely. I have had some help and have been surveying you for a while now." he says conversationally. Ari tries to ignore how overwhelmingly creepy that is. "Are you a time traveller?" Ari asks, staring at him in shock. "Am I? Are you?"

Ari simply shakes her head and frowns. "We were able to discern your age and that your biological makeup is exactly the same as the other's. And your DNA would suggest a genetic relation. We are thinking paternal, but we'd like for you to elaborate." the Architect says. "Would you?" Ari growls, and the Architect merely sighs and smiles wryly at her. "You're cooperation might be able to insure that the other one isn't harmed more than he already has been. Aliens are tricky to test and often the experiments can go... horribly wrong." Ari knows she's being blackmailed, but the threat hanging over her head is way too convincing not to heed. After a pause, she nods shortly.

"Good. If you'll come with me. Do you have a name?" He beckons with an outstretched arm toward the door still open slightly. She rises and holds onto the coat with tightly clenched fists. They walk down a long sterile hallway with white walls and a gray cement floor until they reach a room identical to the one she was just in, with the Doctor laying unconscious on a table under a white sheet on his stomach. Ari keeps her face blank, a cool, emotionless mask.

But, she walks in after the Architect and can't help but head straight for him, checking his vitals. Holding his wrist, the double heartbeat thrums dully under her fingers.

"How are you related?" The Architect asks. "He's my father." Ari replies. "In what sense?" he doesn't know about the alien culture, father could mean a completely different thing. "In the sense that he had sex with my mother and then I was born a few months later." The short answer surprises her and she tries to wrangle her temper under her control.

"I see. The machines keep changing their readings, we don't really know what we're looking at." The Architect gestures to the medical equipment on the side, the images they display shuddering. The Doctor using his telepathy to mess with the readings, even when he's passed out from pain. "You're looking at a miracle." Ari says, glancing over.

"Binary vascular system. Two hearts, our species is built for survival. Extra pieces in case something stops working. Two hearts, two livers, four kidneys. A respiratory bypass system, we don't even need lungs to breathe." Ari explains as the Doctor shifts. The Architect's eyes flash with something like hunger.

"What species are you, may I ask?" He inquires just as the Doctor struggles onto his back, as if he's trying to sit up. "Dad, Dad." Ari says, alarmed, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him gently. "Ari," he says, looking up into her face through slitted eyes. "Ari, we have to get out of here," he says, growing panicked. "Shh," she warns him, squeezing his arms. He opens his eyes fully and looks around, his gaze landing on the Architect and his eyes widening. He looks back to his daughter. "Are you alright?" he asks. "Fine." she says, tightening her hold on his arms to tell him not to say anything stupid.

"We were discussing your species," the Architect prompts Ari. "We were," she agrees, "An answer, if you please." he says, his dark eyes cold. She releases the Doctor and leans into the examination table, sighing quietly. "We're called Time Lords. And, before you ask, they were exactly as pompous as it sounds," she says, her shoulders sagging.

"Arkytior." the Doctor warns. She only glances at him numbly before directing her attention back to the Architect. "Interesting name," the Architect flashes her a grin. "Not the only interesting thing about me." she says, raising an eyebrow and grinning a silent challenge at him. Usually, it's the Doctor bargaining for their lives and safety, but now it's her turn. "What sort of operation are you running here, sir? What are you trying to do?" she asks, smiling cooly at him, not a care in the world.

"What does it matter?" he asks. "I could help." she replies, crossing her arms. "This is the Company of Architecture. I'm interesting in turning over a new leaf for mankind. Creating the perfect human. Evolution will never give us perfection, it will never end the suffering. I want to make a utopia," he says. "I see. And you find aliens, dissect them. Trying to harvest things you could use to help the humans, right? And then you search out humans to test it." Ari nods in understanding, hiding her horror under a mask of calm business-like expressions.

"Precisely," the Architect agrees. "Well, you've struck gold with this one, buddy." she says, then stands up straight. "I could help you. I could potentially take your idea of the perfect human and deliver it to you on a silver platter without harming anything else you happen to stumble across. But, some things would have to happen first," she says determinedly, ignoring the Doctor's mute glare that she can feel burning into the side of her face.

"Such as?" the Architect queues her to continue. "No more experiments. I could tell you anything you want to know without hurting anyone else. I want your personal guarantee that we will be safe. And I'll give you the key to a better life for all of mankind." Ari promises. The Architect thinks a moment. "Fine. But, if you fail to fulfill your end, our agreement is null and void. And you and your father are fair game." he says, holding out his hand for her to shake. "Fine," she agrees, taking his hand with hers. They shake on it and the Architect excuses himself, leaving the Doctor and Ari to collect their thoughts.

"What have you done, Arkytior?" the Doctor asks, using her full name again. She lets out a deep breath and sags against the table, her legs nearly giving out and tears stinging her eyes. She looks at him and throws her arms around his neck, being mindful of his many stitches and needles. "Alright," he says curiously, patting the top of her head gently. "I thought you were going to die. I thought they had killed you and that I was going to be next." she explains.

"Who was that man, Ari?" the Doctor asks as she pulls away. "The Architect." Ari says. "Who is the Architect?" The Doctor looks up towards the door. Ari shrugs, but rubs her arm through her jacket over her tattoo and wonders. "He may have been behind the Opera House." She admits when the Doctor continues to look to her for answers. "And you went and made a deal with him?" The Doctor shouts, moving to sit up again, then drops back to the table with a yelp. Ari examines the stuff going into him through the IV drip and tugs the needles out of his arms. "Sit still," she says and takes a deep breath as her hands start to glow and she drops them onto either side of his chest, despite his protesting. They both glow gold and the regeneration energy dissolves the Doctor's stitches as it heals the wounds. He snatches her hands and holds them up and away from his body, glaring at her.

"And you just showed them that." Ari just winks at him in response, taking her hands away. "Nah." She dismisses his worry, smiling wanly at him in a way she learned from him to hide her fear. The door reopens and a nurse comes in with the Doctor's clothes. Ari steps into the hall, keeping the door cracked with her foot between it and the jam so they won't be separated. The Doctor emerges a few moments later, messing with his bow tie. He lets her keep the coat as they're both herded away from the room and down the sterile white hall, up a flight of stairs. The building looks more and more familiar to the Doctor until they reach the next floor up, when they emerge into a hallway he knows he's seen before. Charcoal floor, white walls. When they reach the room at the end of the hall, he knows where they are. The desk in the center, tables with research and computers. This is the same place they were at when they investigated the time rip. And sitting at the desk in the middle of the room is the Architect.

"Hello, again." the man greets them and gestures for them to take a seat. Of course, they stay standing. A man standing in the corner with a gun steps forward at a glance from the Architect, nudging Ari in the back with the barrel and pushing her towards the chair. She sits, glaring at them hatefully while the Doctor seats himself next to her with a considerable more amount of dignity and Ari takes a small breath, realizing that she has to conduct herself in a completely calm manner because she is going to have to play the Architect's game. "Hello." Ari greets.

"So. About our agreement." The Architect says, leaning forward. "We'll help you reach your perfect species and even find you a planet for you to keep them on, if you wish." The Doctor says quickly. "I'm sorry, but this is an issue between the hybrid and myself. I'm afraid you aren't in charge here." The Architect looks to the alien. "Follow my rules and we shouldn't have a problem. It isn't hard, don't hurt anyone. Free any prisoners you have. I'll tell you everything you need to know." Ari says with a small smile. "Fine. Bring them to their quarters." He waves in dismissal and the man with the gun approaches, glancing at the two aliens to call them to rise and walk in front of them. The Doctor wraps his arm around Ari's shoulders, in front of her chest to hold her against him and keep her out of the way of the weapon behind them. He slides his chin over the top of her head and tucks her into him, guarding her as much as he can.

They're lead down flights and flights and flights of stairs-29 to be exact-and finally reach a row of cells down a hallway. Each is dressed with a small bed, a chair and a desk, and a bathroom. "Quarters." Ari scoffs as the man with the gun unlocks the door for them. He has a name. And a face. His eyes are blue, his hair is blonde. He probably has a personality. But instead of the man with blue eyes or the man who likes cheesy puns, he's the man with the gun, simply because he has a gun and is being rather mean about it. Funny how that works.

They step in and the door swings shut and locked behind them. "The Architect will collect you for questioning later." he says before dismissing himself. Ari drops to the bed as soon as he's gone, leaning against the cold wall behind her. "River would have that man's head on a platter already. And I'm making deals." Ari hisses, angry with herself, pressing her face into her hands in utter frustration. "You're not River." the Doctor replies, sitting in the desk chair. "Gee, thanks. Very helpful." she looks up at him, eyes red, but no tears. "What I mean is, it isn't in your nature to kill. Did it even cross your mind to attack him until just now?" the Doctor crosses his arms. "Of course it did. I just didn't think about it enough to plan for it at all." Ari rolls her eyes and then hisses in pain, her arm under her elbow erupting in fiery prickles. She shrugs the Doctor's jacket off and watches in horror as the Gallifreyan tattoo grows on her arm, adding more words. "Trial Two." Ari says to the Doctor, looking up at him with startled eyes.

It now stretches from two inches above her elbow to about three inches down her forearm, etched into the curve of her elbow. The man with the gun standing outside presses his finger to his ear and looks into the cage at them both. "The Architect will see you now." he addresses Ari and she steps forward, glaring out at him. He lets her out and leads her down the hallway.


	12. Brave New World

**A/N: Happy New Year! **

Arkytior Jessica Pond-Song is not one that responds well to threats. Call it stubbornness, her dominating Time Lord genes coming out to play or whatever you like, but she feels threatened and cornered and her fear morphs into anger quickly. Anger she has to fight to control. They walk not to the Architect's office, but to another room for experimentation where the Architect waits. "What is this?" Ari demands immediately, glaring at him and shoving her arm forward to show him the tattoo. "To keep track. Time travel is very hard to work, especially without a TARDIS and this is a way of me making a sort of calendar of our meetings." He replies calmly.

"Why? What trials?" Ari asks and for a moment the Architect grins and a word he doesn't know shines in his eyes. The word is "spoilers". But that word is beyond him, stupid greedy man, ignorant, and he doesn't know what he's gotten himself into. "It was your mother whom I first met. I was so young at the time, but she was pregnant and I saw scans of you and it was then that I knew that you were perfect for my needs. I paid for information, hired the Silence for assistance and finally got something useful. They told me almost nothing. Said that it could be dangerous for me to know. It was infuriating. But I waited. Trial one was simply testing you to see if you would fit my needs. And now that I know you will." He pauses and looks at her meaningfully. "I answer all of your little questions." Ari concludes.

"So. Time Lords. Two hearts, two livers, four kidneys and a respitory bypass. Tell me what else." The Architect sits back in his chair. Ari sits on the examining table, resigning herself to obedience she think may kill her. "Time Lords are absolutely amazing. Brilliant, intellectual, innovative creatures that perfected time and space travel, evolved to rule it. They are generally cold and harsh and inhuman. Raising their children to do the same in a very dark environment. Failure was not an option. So, evolution to be able to withstand all that the average Gallifreyan would go through in their lifetime was vital. A long life because of regeneration." Ari begins.

"Time Lords cheat death. Regeneration takes the dying body and changes it. Every cell is reborn and the Time Lord gets a new face, but keeps the same memories." Ari says, trying to not reveal too much. This is the sort of man who would shoot her without hesitation if he wanted to see how it worked. "Interesting. So, your father has quite the reputation." The Architect moves the conversation forward. "Do you know who he is?" Ari asks, referring to the Doctor. "Not as well as I'd like to." The Architect admits and gives her a look with dark eyes, imploring her to explain. "He's the Doctor." Ari says and the Architect just blinks, not understanding. Foolish man.

"The Doctor is a Time Lord, over a thousand years old, at that. The one that ruined whatever it was that you were trying to accomplish at the Opera House. He is just as his species would suggest, perhaps more. Vain, stubborn, certainly burdened with a hellish god complex. Perhaps not what you should base your Bigger, Better, New Humans off of at all."

The Architect watches her, intrigued, but doesn't comment. "Explain the TARDIS to me." he says instead. "The TARDIS? Don't you know?" Ari crosses her arms, leaning back against the wall. "Again. Time travel is dangerous. Foreknowledge could kill a man. I have to be very careful." says the Architect. Ari marvels at his ignorance, yet he can still manage to capture them both. "TARDIS: Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It travels in time and space, it's alive. A sentient vessel grown on the Time Lord home planet, Gallifrey. Worth more than life on Earth, if you're reasonable. If you're plagued by compassion, then maybe not." Ari is careful to not reveal that Gallifrey is gone. The Architect cannot know that they are the last two of a dead and gone species. It would only endanger them.

"Have you fulfilled your part of the agreement?" Ari asks suddenly. "I have. The human subjects will be returned to where we found them. Their memories have been wiped, however. For their own goods, I assure you." the Architect smiles wanly. Then, with a flick of his wrist, she's dismissed.

Amy, Rory and Kate look around frantically for the missing aliens that used to be in the house. "Where are they? What happened?" Amy snaps, spinning around and looking for the funny-haired idiots that used to be standing right next to her. Kate pulls out a scanning device and holds it up, pressing a button and scowling to herself. "Saline static. They were taken." Kate reports, looking at Amy and Rory. Amy nods grimly, but Rory simply looks thoroughly confused. "Saline what? Static? What does that mean?" he curses his job and his scrubs and his habit for missing everything important. Soldiers storm the house and he's in his pants, the universe is ending and he's a Roman, gotta save Venice from alien fish-vampires and his dad is a gondola driver. For Christ's sake.

"People have been disappearing. Taken for something and the Doctor and Ari just joined them." Kate says, exiting the house at a brisk pace, nearly running, but composed and climbs back into the non-descript black car parked out front with Rory and Amy behind her. "We need to get back to UNIT and find out everything we can about the Company of Architecture." she tells them.

They've been there a week, Ari thinks. Just about, anyway. Every day is the same thing. Ari answers questions and willingly submits herself to non-invasive testing. Taking blood, X-rays, small tests that show her brain functioning without going inside her head. She has a basic understanding of what they've been doing with the humans. They'll see something they like from an alien and somehow replicate it, grafting it into humans. That's where they've been going wrong. Forcing things into a fully grown human body that aren't meant to be there. They need to create hybrids naturally, not force needles into adult volunteers. It doesn't work that way.

She's keeping herself together, displaying a very limited amount of hostility towards their captors while wondering how she'll escape. The Doctor has been less than agreeable. No TARDIS, no sonic screwdriver, stuck in a cage all day while his daughter endangers herself and him. He's about to snap. It happens when Ari is walked back to their cell with the beginnings of a bruise under her left eye, a cut where her skin split in the middle of it. She walks in and faces that part of her body away from him, ducking her head to obscure his view with her hair. "Are you alright, Ari?" the Doctor asks, noticing her standoffish demeanor and she clears her throat. "Yeah. Long day." she says casually, glancing at him through her lashes. He watches as she covers her face, trying to be inconspicuous and catches her hand, pulling it from her cheek. She swallows and looks up at him, biting her lip when he reaches out to touch her cheek. "What happened?" he asks quietly. It's not a calm quiet. "Nothing. Dad," Ari begins, but the Doctor is already approaching the door to their cell, rattling it violently and gaining the attention of their guard. "I need to speak with the Architect. It's rather urgent." he says, glaring at the man who, surprisingly, nods. Opening the door, he lets the Doctor out, but holds out a hand to stop Ari, who just rolls her eyes and pushes past him.

"Dad." she calls after the Time Lord, trying to catch up to his fast moving, long legs while holding her still-throbbing cheek. "What did he do to you?" the Doctor demands and Ari shrugs. "They wanted to test my reaction." she whispers finally, breaking under the heat of his glare as he stares down at her, holding her arm. The Doctor nods as if accepting that the world is round for the first time and starts walking again. They reach the Architect's office and the Doctor barges in, shoving the door open with his foot. "Good evening." the Architect says amiably, looking up from a file in his hands. "You're not following your end of the agreement." the Doctor says, stopping at the Architect's desk and glowering at him. "I'm not?" the Architect asks, widening his eyes mockingly and blinking rapidly in over-exaggerated surprise. "You swore that no harm would come to us." the Doctor says firmly. "Has she been harmed?" the Architect wonders, looking past the Doctor to Ari.

The Doctor gestures to the cut on her cheek and suddenly Ari feels an irrational wave of embarrassment, as though she's making a big deal out of a little smack. It's her father over reacting, because honestly, of all the things to get worked up about, but it seems as though he thinks she can't handle herself. "That's not bad. That doesn't count as harm, Doctor." the Architect says, lacing his fingers on his desk. "You don't get to decide that." the Doctor argues and the Architect's eyes flash in response to the unspoken threat the Doctor delivered. Ari told him he shouldn't base a species off of something like the Doctor, but the Architect can't see why not.

"You know, I wanted to explore brain functions and mental responses a bit more with some… different stimuli. I've been taught the fundamentals, of course, but there's nothing like hands on learning." the Architect claps his hands together. "Different how?" Ari asks. "A bit more invasive." the Architect allows. "No. No experimentation. Part of the agreement." Ari shakes her head, crossing her arms. "It's also part of the agreement that you help me with this project. It would be very useful. And, without your cooperation, we are risking putting yourself and your father in danger. Accidents happen all the time. We wouldn't want anyone to get hurt." the Architect smiles sympathetically, as if truly concerned for her well being.

Ari heaves a sigh, biting her lip softly in contemplation. She can barely imagine the lengths he would go to in order to get what he wants. "Ari is a hybrid. Her brain is different from the brain of a Time Lord's, extremely similar, but not enough where any data you gathered from her would be an accurate evaluation of a Gallifreyan. Perform your experiments on me." the Doctor encourages, taking the heat off of Ari.

"Of course, but I was going to do it on both of you. To compare." the Architect smiles wanly. "Fine." Ari snaps. Both men look at her and she gives a steely glare back at them. "What? I said yes." Ari declares, gritting her teeth. "Wonderful." the Architect sneers and two guards approach, separating Ari and the Doctor, taking them both away.

Ari finds herself in a brightly lit room, occupied with something that resembles a dentist's chair and a piece of machinery. It's a thin body, a blank monitor on one side and on the other a tube comes out, tapering to a point with a very small lense. The dentist chair becomes the dentist's chair from hell upon further inspection, Ari notes when she sees the straps attached to it. The guard exits as a man in a labcoat enters, pushing Ari with a blank gaze towards the chair. Ari sits stiffly as straps are tightened around her wrists, stomach, thighs and one wraps around her forehead, forcing her to straighten her neck and sit back almost completely still. Her heart races, a feeling of overwhelming claustrophobia washing through her at the thought of being restrained, very close to immobile. She twists in despite knowing it won't help. The strap on her forehead is adjusted, a part of it unzipped so that a small circle of skin is exposed on her forehead above the space between her eyebrows, the exact center of her head.

"Do not talk. Keep your head still and your arms straight." he says, glaring at her with distaste like she's a slug that he just stepped on, and is now stuck to the bottom of his squeaky shoes. She glares back, but complies. All of the scientists she has encountered are obviously human, but they have lost their humanity. The creatures they meet are no longer seen as living things, but objects to be tested, catalogued and have conclusions drawn from. Ari is no different, evidently.

"Close your eyes." he says shortly, turning away from her to fiddle with the machine in front of her. Being true to herself, she keeps her eyes glued stubbornly open and on the back of his head, where thin light brown hair hangs flimsily. "Now." he snaps, as if sensing her refusal. She simply tilts her mouth downwards into a scowl and ignores his order. Heaving a sigh, he turns back around to look at her, annoyed. "You have two choices. One is to close your eyes. The other is to not do as I say. That will result in me pressing this button," he pulls a small, rectangular remote out of his pocket, "Which will send a signal to the testing room connected to this one, to a chair very much like the one you're sitting in. Once that happens, a certain Time Lord occupying that chair will be hit with a few thousand volts of electricity. There is a speaker above your head, from which we will play his screams to you." Ari almost speaks, but instead gives her compliance, forcing her eyes closed and then keeping them that way.

"There. Was that so hard?" the scientist tuts and Ari has to bite the inside of her mouth to keep from responding. She simply squeezes her eyes and waits. There's the sound of polished shoes squeaking over the tiles and then the machine clicks on, whirring to life with a harsh buzzing and Ari tenses, almost opening her eyes to see what she's already dreading. But no, she keeps them clenched tightly shut and squeezes her hands into fists. There's a different sort of buzz, the type you hear from an intercom, before the Architect's voice surrounds her. "Don't you think I know that you haven't been honest with me? I know you've been keeping things from me, and I'm determined to find out what." Ari has barely any time to think about what this could mean before the machine hits full power and Ari stops having any thoughts at all. A burning, searing pain explodes between her eyes, burning through her mind.

She releases a sharp, high pitched yelp of surprise and agony and swears she hears another in response from the speakers above her head. Her stomach twists in realization at what is happening. The microphones are on and the Doctor can hear her like she can hear him. _Responses to different types of stimuli. _A test, what will the Doctor do in response to this? But Ari can barely focus, the pain intensifies, blood rushing in her ears and tears stinging behind her eyelids. There are meaty fingers attached to clumsy hands rummaging through her mind, ripping through memories and thoughts, yanking them to the surface before dropping them in search of another like a child pulling out toys. Everything she is playing out behind her eyelids, all of the secrets she was trying to keep exposed.

_Don't scream. I cannot. I won't. They will win and the Doctor will hear me. God knows what will happen then. They won't win. I won't scream. I can't scream._

Her head spikes with pain, her brain pounding its way out through her temples as long forgotten images make their way forward. River, a distant moon and stars and a soothing voice speaking to her that shouldn't bring such agony but it does. It hurts her mind, the careless hands galavanting in her mind killing her and the nostalgia in her chest burning her heart. Then the machine tapped something vital and emotions flooded her with a burning intensity she never felt before. Ari couldn't help it, she opened her previously pinched shut mouth, her teeth released her lip and she screamed. Her voice stretched, high-pitched and agonized as every breath in her lungs forced their way out of her mouth, ripping up her throat.

The Doctor's end of the speakers went deadly quiet. There may have been noise before, but there wasn't even the sound of breath, now. The machine powers down, releasing Ari from its hold and she slumps, completely limp in her chair, unable to move as she concentrates on the shuddering breaths coming in and out of her nose. The scientist and Ari both wait nervously for the Doctor's _response. _

Silence stretches over the speaker, only slight static making it's way through. This endures for almost an entire minute. But, in the messy clutter Ari's mind has become she feels something familiar. Her shields are in the dust again, leaving her more susceptible to outside psyches and there's something just on the edge of her consciousness that feels close to her own mind and nonthreatening. She reaches out to it as best she can, but as soon as she's close, it reels back away from her and Ari only slouches further in her chair, more energy used to try and control her telepathy. But what was-?

Suddenly, the silence breaks, shattering as a long roar echoed to her ears over the speakers. It was definitely the Doctor, but it was something Ari never heard before. Angry. Livid. Furious. Monstrous. That one. The noise was monstrous. Guards file into the room, making a firm formation around Ari as she watches through her peripheral vision. Inwardly, she sighs. Didn't they learn by now that guards and guns won't stop the Doctor? There's crash and shouting over the speakers before they go off line. Then there's frantic shouting and shooting outside and down the hall, orders being thrown around and Ari manages to think, _Is this what you wanted, Architect? _Before her eyes droop almost closed again and her brain returns to its jumbled state. The ruckus gets closer as does the same mind that reached out to her earlier, she can feel it again.

She would've reached for it again, but the machine did enough damage to her sensitive psyche and telepathic abilities to render her dazed and unconnected for days. The mind reaching out to her was a bit of a mess, as well, the Doctor also having been stomped and trampled to have his superior mind rendered handicapped. He relies on his mental abilities more than Ari, she's still gaining all of hers back after spending her entire life in a mostly dormant mind, having adapted to a human life style. That's why she guards herself, she's unlearned and entirely too vulnerable. The sound of stomping feet gets closer, he somehow barrelled through guards and guns to be right outside the door. But then, perhaps the Architect just wanted to know what he'd do, he didn't really want to prevent him from reaching her.

"Ari?" he calls, slamming the door open and the guards tense, "_Ari!_" the Doctor spies her slumped over and restrained in the chair, looking at him through slitted eyes. All of the sudden, the guards stand down, still tense and ready to fire, but no longer actively trying to halt the Doctor in his approach towards his daughter. His eyes flicker to them, definitely noticing, but uncaring at the current moment. He unbuckles all of her restraints quickly and Ari tries to get onto her feet, but ends up stumbling forward drunkenly, feeling less like a girl and more like an amorphous puddle, straight into the Doctor's chest. She winces, raising her eyes to look up at him tiredly. "Do you think that this counts as harm?" Ari wonders to him as he lifts her up to hold tightly to his chest.

As soon as he does, sirens blare and the lights flash, an automated voice announcing some kind of emergency. Then, over the intercoms, a blissfully familiar voice speaks to them. "Attention Company of Architecture. I represent Unified Intelligence Taskforce and I'm here to tell you that you are surrounded." Amy says proudly, "Doctor and Ari Pond, please stand by. Agents will be with you momentarily." The grin on her lips is tangible in her voice. "Bless the Ponds." Ari mutters into the Doctor's shoulder, her head pounding and her limbs made of jelly.

It takes barely ten minutes before the Doctor and Ari are escorted outside and directly into a black van where Amy, Rory and Kate wait for them. "Is she okay?" Amy asks, looking at the girl in the Doctor's arms. "Been better." Ari replies, offering a small smile. They wait in the van, the Doctor settling Ari down so she's laying across one of the bench seats, her head on his jacket, until Kate gets out of her conversation over the bluetooth plugged into her ear. "I'm afraid that the Architect has turned up missing. No one saw him in the building at all." she reports grimly. "He'll be after us." Ari says quietly, her voice cracking. The Doctor smooths a hand over her head as if he's trying to brush the damage away as he nods thoughtfully, his damaged mind working to figure out how best to hide.


	13. Chameleon Arch

**A/N: The first part of what will now be referred to as the New Year Special! Based off of The Snowmen. I ****_finally _****got around to watching Last Christmas because I haven't been at home until yesterday, and oh my Lord, it was so good. Anyway, read on!**

"What _do you mean, hide?" Rory asks, following the Doctor into the TARDIS with Amy and Ari close behind, Ari in a state of general confusion, her head still not screwed on quite right. "The Architect will be after us shortly. Ari and I have to hide. He's powerful, he has connections. And how he has everything Ari was trying to hide from him." the Doctor glances at his daughter worriedly, who sits in the jump seat with a small sigh, trying to calm her erratic thoughts. _

"_Yes, but where could you possibly go?" Amy asks, arms akimbo. "It's not a matter of where, Pond, it's a matter of who." the Doctor winks at her and Amy manages to blink threateningly, not understanding. "Ari, what do you know about the Chameleon Arch?" the Doctor asks his daughter, as if making a point. "Absolutely nothing." she says, looking up at him with large, melancholic eyes. _

"_There. That's what I'll do. Ponds, you have to leave. I can't take you with us, and you can't know what's going to happen in case the Architect comes knocking." the Doctor says, waving his hands and herding the Ponds out of the door, ignoring their complaints and protests. _

Ari rises from the creaking wooden bed beneath her and heaves a sigh. Glancing towards her window fogged with the cold outside, kept away by the fire across from her, she sees the frosty front courtyard of the estate stretch out in front of her, gravel that would be used for parking carriages, brown grass around it. Touching the window, it's numbingly cold. Feeling somewhat like her heart. The TARDIS patched Ari up as best she could, but the machine was busy with other things and Ari's head still pounds.

"_What're you going to do?" Ari asks as the Doctor produces a headset thing of some sort, examining it with a look of distaste. "Here, take this," the Doctor hands her a pocket watch with Gallifreyan engravings on the side, "And don't lose it. It's vitally important, Ari." She holds it by the chain and listens for ticking, which never comes. "What is it?" Ari taps on the cover curiously. "Me. This," the Doctor gestures to the headset and the fob watch, "is the Chameleon Arch. Another Time Lord trick that allows us to completely rewrite our genetic coding and make us a different species. And right now, it's set to human." the Doctor explains quickly. _

"_And this is…" she looks to the Doctor again, waving the watch at him. "Me. The Time Lord bits. Because my biology isn't the only thing that changes. I do this and become human. I get an entirely new persona. I won't be the same man at all." the Doctor sighs and pats the TARDIS. "She'll make me an identity." Ari coughs out a disbelieving noise. "And you don't get any say?" she asks, holding the watch tightly to her chest. "Look, it'll be fine. We just need to disappear for a while. Say… 2 months. Two months and then the Architect will have lost us. We'll go somewhere safe, somewhere we'll be protected." the Doctor assures her. _

_The Doctor places the Chameleon Arch onto his head, then grimaces. "And, I'm going to apologize in advance." he says. "For what?" Ari gasps. The Doctor swallows roughly. "The screaming." Ari clenches her jaw and sniffs, steeling herself. "Now listen, there are a few rules. One: don't let me hurt anyone. Alright, the TARDIS is going to make my identity, but every hole is going to be filled with you. I know it's incredibly selfish, but you need to look after me. Two: don't let me fall in love. I know it sounds stupid, but it's happened before and only… complicated things and put lives at risk. Three: You. Don't let me hurt you, don't let me send you away. I don't think I would, but you can never be too careful. Look after yourself." the Doctor instructs before turning the Chameleon Arch on. Then, he's gone. And yes, there is screaming._

Apparently a safe place was London, 1892. An estate the TARDIS somehow got them. It's the beginning of November. The Doctor is Mr. John Smith, a wealthy young widower who is currently sleeping in his own bed, recovering from the transition. Ari is Arianna Song, his ward and godchild whose parents died a few months upwards towards the sky, Ari sees the haze of gray clouds above and knows that the TARDIS is up there, waiting patiently for the month to be over. The vessel has supplied Ari with her own clothes and the girl moves to her wardrobe, knowing that her jeans and tank top ensemble would never do.

After a few moments of rummaging, she finally comes out with a burgundy dress that reaches her ankle and the appropriate under clothes. Mostly unfamiliar with 1800's dress and even more so when it came to putting it on, it took around 20 minutes before Ari was fully dressed in her Victorian underwear that covered more than summer outfits of her time, the corset under her dress and then, the actual dress itself. It's burgundy and buttons up the front over the chest, sleeves that fall to her wrists and a ruffled skirt. Somehow, Ari is sure that 14 year old girls don't actually wear corsets even in the 19th century, but she doesn't really mind. She'd like to blend in, but she knows she'll need to command authority while dealing with a recovering, newly human Doctor and in public, so seeming older than she is may help. Her leather boots over stockings even give her an inch of height, helping in that prospect, also.

She pins the front of her hair up on top of her head in a twist and secures it with a barret she finds in a drawer before opening her bedroom door to make her way down the stairs. Going into the hall, she catches sight of one of the house maids, which confused her when she first saw the house staff, but then decided there must be a perception filter at work so that the Doctor and Ari would actually seem wealthy and have connections in their time. A thick rug beneath her feet muffles her steps, running all the way down the hall and over the stairs leading down to the main floor of the estate, where John Smith's office was located. There are a lot of large, dusty rooms with beds, a ballroom, a few washrooms and rooms Ari hasn't had the chance to explore yet, in the short while she's been here. But on the main floor are a few lounges, John's study, the kitchen and the dining room. It's all very old and untouchable, cold somehow. Mostly unlived in. Of course, it would be with people constantly ready to clean and only one young man and a girl living there.

Ari almost rushes back into her room to retrieve the fob watch that contains her father's soul, but refrains. It's safe where it is and she has nowhere to put it on her person. Her "coat" is simply a shawl buttoned around her shoulders, no reasonable pockets in sight.

"Good morning, miss." the maid, Maria, says, noticing Ari for the first time. "If you insist." Ari says, a fake accent lilting her voice. She had to drop her American drawl quickly, realizing it would be out of place considering the background the TARDIS fabricated for her. So, she colored her voice with a patrician accent and practiced it for a few moments when she was alone. Maria smiles, if a little disapproving of Ari's dry humor, and says, "Mr. Smith is in his study, if you're looking for him." Ari's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline, she was sure he'd sleep the day away at least.

"Thank you." she says before descending the stairs, her hand on the banister and her shoes effecting her balance with the thin heel and lack of padding inside the leather. Reaching the foyer, she hangs a left and walks down the corridor, reaching the half-closed door to John's study. She repeats it to herself in her head a few times. _John Smith, John Smith, John Smith. _Not her father, not the Doctor. She calls him John, her godfather, evidently a very close family friend. But what is he like? Is he like the Doctor? Or is he like many Victorian aristocratic males with children generally were, thinking about finding a governess so Ari wouldn't be a bother to him?

She knocks gently on the door politely before stepping through the gap, eyebrows raised and a small smile lifting her mouth. His office is what anyone would expect from a Victorian office. Large and spacious, a thick oriental rug on the floor, his heavy wooden desk in front of a lit fireplace facing away from it, and at this desk in a large chair sits _John. _He's dressed for the period, even though he arrive at the house unconscious and in his tweed jacket. He's wearing a velvet waistcoat, dress shirt, purple patterned bow tie, a purple coat with black scruffy fur on the lapels, a pocket watch that's inside of his waistcoat pocket and Ari sees his brown trousers and black laced boots sticking out from under the desk as he stretches his lanky legs. Period dress with a bit more… _Doctor. _

He gives her a warm smile and Ari knows he's like the Doctor. Somehow, she can feel it. "Morning." she says, approaching the desk and sitting in the chair across from him, back straight and ankles crossed, trying to be a proper young lady. She looks him over curiously, seeing the bags under his eyes and his slouched posture. Though, to be fair, he always slouches around Ari, trying to make his height unimposing. _No, the Doctor did that. This is John Smith._ Ari inwardly scolds herself. "Feeling a bit under the weather?" Ari asks kindly and John nods, rubbing his eyes. "Must be the cold. Changes in the season never agree with me." John admits, closing the file on his desk and turning his full attention to Ari. "Captain Latimer and his children are visiting later. His daughter is a bit younger than you," the Doctor looks at her dress, no doubt noting the scooping neckline, "How old are you, again?" Ari gives a small laugh at his concern. Oh no, her exposed neck, _scandalous. _"Old enough to make my own decisions. And to know that they are perfectly respectable." she replies, still chuckling at his unsure expression.

"Well, I feel reassured." John jokes. Ari is honestly annoyed at there being visiters, she wants to go to Paternoster Row and make a visit of her own to a certain lizard woman and her wife Ari knows. She only met them once, but she has no doubt that they'll offer their assistance. "Have you eaten breakfast, yet?" John asks and Ari shakes her head. They make their way into the dining room and Ari curiously looks to the long stretch of wooden table that is in the middle of it. No leftovers available, there's a cook that will actually make them breakfast and maids that will dispose of it after. They're served oatmeal or porridge, whatever you'd like to call it. It's hot, but not at all appetising. It's oddly lumpy and smells odd. When Ari takes a small spoonful it tastes almost like nothing with sugar and is textured like soggy cardboard. She makes a small grimace, but eats all of it quickly, ignoring the taste and the texture, focusing on how it warms her belly.

She looks at John sitting across the table and sees him making a face at his own food, pouring his spoonful back into the bowl, letting it slap against the porridge already there. She suppresses a giggle, admiring how similar he is to the Doctor in that moment before looking up to another made, Sarah, when she brings them tea. "Sugar?" Sarah offers along with Ari's cup and saucer. "Just give it to me." Ari says, knowing she likes her tea and coffee with an obscene amount of sugar, taking the glass bowl of cubes and just dropping them into her cup one after the other quickly, ignoring the odd looks she receives from her company. Ari isn't a fan of tea, but ignores this, too, as she can't refuse it in the middle of Victorian London. It might be seen as blasphemy, but at the very least unpatriotic.

After the breakfast has been cleared away, there's a knock on the door and the creaking noise of it being opened by their butler, no doubt. What did John Smith do to gain all of these servants? Were his parents rich? Does he own something? Ari has questions but can't ask them without seeming suspicious. "Captain Latimer." John calls as he makes his way down the corridor towards the front door, Ari following after him. Captain Latimer walks towards them, sporting a brooding expression on his impressively bearded face, his children following quickly behind him, but he acts as if they aren't even there. "Mr. Smith." Latimer greets, holding out his hand for John to shake. Then, he turns and glances at his kids, a girl and a boy, waving for them to introduce themselves. "My daughter Francesca," she smiles politely and shakes the Doctor's hand, "And my son Digby." the younger boy does the same, both of them chiming "Good morning, Mr. Smith." like well trained monkeys on leashes. Ari half expects for Captain Latimer to pull out a whistle like in _A Sound of Music _and command his children to dance.

"My ward, Arianna Song." John says, as if remembering himself, but a shadow falls upon his face when he says her chosen last name. Ari's hearts stutter. She knows he cannot remember. She shakes Captain Latimer's hand, also giving a quiet greeting, much less practiced than that of the Latimer children. "We have business, do we not?" the Captain says abruptly, looking to John, who nods and leads the way to his office. "Children, perhaps you'll gather in the main sitting room?" Maria suggests, so they all congregate there, amongst the dusty velvet seats and uncomfortable armchairs.

Francesca is around 12, but around 5'3, giving her three inches on Ari, which is greatly annoying. Digby can't be any older than 10, his feet shaking and fidgeting on the floor restlessly, wanting to run and play, but instead he's stuck in this itchy old house with his father on "business" all because they don't have a governess. "You weren't here last time we visited Mr. Smith." Francesca says, eyeing Ari with great interest. "You're right. I came three months ago." Ari enforces the lie the TARDIS fabricated for her, even though the Doctor wasn't actually here three months ago when they visited, either. "Why?" Digby wonders. "My parents got small pox and died." Ari says stiffly, trying to muster some sort of mournful look regarding these parents that don't exist, and apparently does it well enough to gain Francesca's sympathy, but Digby only continues, his mouth running like that of any ten year old boy.

"Our old governess died, too. Last winter, she fell into the pond at our house and drowned. Then, the pond froze over and we didn't find her until it defrosted in the spring." Digby says excitedly, but Francesca shudders. Noticing, Digby adds, "Franny's been having nightmares about it, haven't you, Franny?" Ari perks up at this. "Nightmares? What sort of nightmares?" she asks. "Our governess comes out of the pond. She's very cross, says she has to punish me. She was mean, always yelling and punishing us." Franny explains. "I'm glad she's dead." Digby declares, brazenly thoughtless about manners and sensitivity on the subject. Franny slaps his arm, shushing him. "Children." Captain Latimer calls sharply from the hall outside, having been there long enough to hear Digby's announcement and Franny's abuse. "Father." Franny says, rising quickly. "We're going. It's been a pleasure, Mr. Smith." Captain Latimer says to John, standing quietly behind the more audacious, imposing man. John Smith seems to be soft-spoken, more so than the Doctor, more so than most men of this time.

"It always is." John agrees and then the Latimers leave, going back to the carriage outside waiting for them. They leave and John joins Ari on the couch, slouching into the musty material tiredly, as if the half-hour visit drained him. And the unhappy shadow is still in his eyes. "Ari, do you ever feel nostalgic for something that's never happened to you?" he asks quietly. Ari looks to him curiously, but replies with a cautious, "What do you mean?" John sighs and twists his wrists around, trying to gather his thoughts before saying, "Feeling as though you are haunted by a half memory of a life never lived. A dream world that you've never stepped foot in and can barely picture in your mind, but your heart aches for it." Ari sighs inwardly, biting the inside of her mouth softly. "Yeah. All the time." she admits and John frowns. "Really?" he asks, facing her with eyes that resemble the Doctor's to a dangerous extent, their depth growing in what John sees as imagined pain. She nods and smiles reassuringly at him. He nods to himself, as if asserting something in his mind, before rubbing his face. "I think I'm going to try and sleep. I really don't feel well." he decides. "Of course. I have some things I need to do." Ari agrees, thinking of Paternoster Row.


	14. Snow Miser

**A/N: Long chapter, guys, but still one more to go for the New Year Special. I hope you've been enjoying it, and that you're not too disappointed about the lack of Clara. If she was there, I would be tempted to make her into a companion like in the show, and her story line just wouldn't fit. It's a self-control problem, not anything against the character. Anyway, read on!**

Ari still finds it to be a novelty that she has a chauffeur, waiting to drive her to any of her desired destinations in a horse-drawn carriage, but she elects to walk. Yes, it will take a considerable amount of time, but at least no one will be able to report her movements to John. She takes the fob watch out of her bedroom along with her coat and tucks it into her dress, slipping it underneath the bottom buttons that go from just below her breastbone to her naval, buttoning her dress back over it and tucking it against her, still separated from her body by a layer or two of fabric.

As she walks, she allows herself to finally emote, feel the consequences of the last experiment conducted by the Architect in her pounding temples, the stinging of tears just behind her eyes, and hear the screams of the Doctor as he changed himself to a human echo in her mind. Finally, she reaches the home of Strax, Vastra and Jenny, reaching up to knock solidly on the door. It creaks open to reveal Strax in a butlers' suit, looking out at her. "What do you want, boy?" he snaps, glaring at her. "It's me, Strax. The Doctor's daughter?" she offers an explanation to his blank stare. "Oh, I didn't recognize you. Why are you all ruffly?" he asks, examining her with confusion. "It's a dress, Strax. It's not me. Can I come in?" Ari puts her hands on her hips, annoyed.

"May I take your coat?" Strax offers as he moves out of the way, allowing her entrance to the foyer. She unbuttons the shawl around her shoulders and offers it to him. "Madame." Strax calls, walking into the main sitting room and tossing the shawl aside. Jenny comes in, decked out fully in chambermaid garb, and sees Ari. "Ari! What're you doing here? Where's the Doctor?" she asks and Ari heaves a sigh, her shoulders slumping as Vastra comes in shortly after her, the same questions in her eyes, obscured by her veil.

"It's a long story." Ari finally says.

"Well, that is something." Vastra says, looking stunned as Ari concludes her story, having told them about the Architect, their week of imprisonment and the Doctor turning into a human. "The Doctor can do that?" Jenny asks curiously. "Apparently. He's totally human John Smith right now." Ari agrees, rubbing her eyes. "Where is the TARDIS?" Vastra inquires. Ari huffs a small laugh. "Did you notice the cloud cover rolling in late last night?" Ari asks, glancing out the window. "Can he control the clouds?" Jenny asks, catching on to where the TARDIS may be located. "No, Jenny, no one can control the clouds, that would be ridiculous," Ari pauses, "The wind… a little bit." Jenny grins, and Ari wonders at how someone can cope so much with being so far out of her time, yet still in Victorian London. Of course, once you marry a lizard, perhaps you gain some perspective.

"And the watch? Is it safe?" Vastra presses. "Of course." Ari says, but leaves it where it is. She certainly won't be waving it around in an unknown place. "I need something to do with my time. I need to be able to protect the Doctor and myself for two months. Can you help me?" Ari looks at the three of them seriously. "Of course." Vastra says, as if her feeling the need to ask was an insult. The Doctor saved Vastra's, she'd do everything in her power to help him and his friends.

For nearly two months, Ari would go over to Paternoster Row every day and help examine cases and learn basic self-defense training. She also saw the Latimers a few more times, each time she heard more of Franny's suspicious recurring nightmares. As the weather got colder and the days shorter, the terrors became even more gruesome. She spoke to Vastra about it, but the Silurian insisted they'd need more information first.

On her way out of the lizard's home one evening, she grabs an umbrella from the door, detouring on her way home and wandering to a small park, looking up into the sky and judging the exact placement of what she was looking for. Glancing around and over both shoulders, making sure no one was there to bare witness, she reaches up with the handle of the umbrella and hooks it onto a rung of the ladder above her, hidden from eyes by a cloaking device. Bringing it all the way down to her, she climbs the rungs and steps onto a winding staircase that stretches clear up into the clouds that hide her secret time machine. She grips the umbrella tightly and makes her way up, up, and up until she reaches the top, the clouds dense enough to step onto. It's like walking on a mattress, slightly bouncy and unstable, but Ari just marches up to the TARDIS that seems to be collecting dust and dirt from disuse. Sighing, she pulls the key on a chain she keeps on her at all times from the buttoned up neck of her dress, a heavier piece considering the rapidly cooling weather, and slides it into the hole, twisting and is rewarded with a firm click.

Stepping into the TARDIS, Ari looks around at the dim lights surrounding her. The TARDIS is on emergency power in case the Architect can track it, but it's changed. Slowly, throughout the month, the TARDIS has been altering her interior. Still beautiful, yes, but not as bright. More clinically mechanical, no more of the fantastically bright oranges or mixed up tools on the console. It's all silver and blue, larger, somehow, because there's no homey clutter like there was in the last interior. Ari knows the old console room will surely be around somewhere, but not here. The TARDIS is sad, like it knows something Ari doesn't.

Patting the console fondly, Ari goes around to the new monitor and starts to type, searching possible reasons for Franny to be having nightmares that are growing in intensity along with the cold. After an hour, she has absolutely nothing to show for it. Sighing heavily, Ari makes her way back to the door, pausing briefly at the phone sitting on the console. She could call Amy and Rory. They're probably worried. Steeling herself, she picks up the receiver and dials. "Hello." a Scottish drawl answers her after a few rings. "Hello, the Ponds." Ari says, unintentionally mimicking the Doctor. "Arkytior Pond, where the hell have you been?" Amy shouts at her and Ari winces. "Um… can't tell you." she whispers and hears fumbling as a man's voice speaks in the background, then there's an echo that tells Ari she's been put on speaker phone.

"Ari, are you alright?" Rory asks, his voice tinny and far away. "Of course. I am totally fine." she promises. "Where's the Doctor? Can we talk to him?" Amy asks. "Um… no. You actually can't. He's not here. But he's perfectly safe, I promise!" Ari says quickly. "What do you mean?" Amy demands. "I really cannot tell you anything. We're in deep cover, remember?" Ari prompts. "Deep cover," Ari hears to ragged breath Rory draws, "You are 14. You've fallen off of the face of the… universe, apparently. We're worried sick." Ari frowns, her stomach twisting with guilt. "Nearly 15, now, from my perspective." she admits. "Has River been around?" Amy's voice softens in sympathy, catching onto Ari's plight form her small confession told in an equally small voice. "No. She wouldn't be able to find us, either. And if she's called, we wouldn't know. I don't have the psychic paper on me. Just trying to stay out of the business of the universe for a while." Ari says conversationally, leaning against the new console. It's cold, while the old one hummed with light and warmth, the metal of this one is almost frigid.

"We've redecorated. The interior's different. Sleek." she adds. "That's nice. I got a new job. I'm modeling, now." Amy replies. "Of course you are." Ari scoffs, thinking of her grandmother's considerable amount of leg and what is thought of as "perfect" appearance. "Look, guys, I have to go. Things to do, you know. I just wanted to check in." Ari says quickly, feeling her throat closing up. "Of course. We miss you, and we'll see you soon, I hope." Amy says as Rory makes a sound of agreement. "Yeah." Ari chokes out, before hanging up.

She lets out a choked sob, the feeling of missing her family smashing into her all at once. She covers her mouth and presses a hand into her stomach, breathing as deeply as her dress will allow and then sniffles, wiping her face in case any stray tears fell, glad to see there weren't any. She then quickly exits the TARDIS, cold air slapping her in the face and she looks down to the ground, seeing that there's new snow to add to the already lightly dusted floor of London. It's gonna be a white Christmas.

Walking quickly down the stairs, leaving her umbrella behind, Ari reaches the ground and sees what she thought was a small amount of snow was actually growing rapidly, the now completely dark night filled with a veil of white as flakes spiral towards her and coat the ground. It lands in her hair and on her face, her cheeks, ears and nose freezing. She inherited her father's ears that really stick out from her head quite a bit, though her hair helps to distract, and Ari feels that it does help when it's snowing and it's like two satellites sticking out from her head, catching the cold frozen drops. This is why she never pulls her hair back.

As she paces down the street, she passes the Institute of Dr. Simeon, a generally unhappy old geezer that Vastra, Jenny, and Strax have been investigating for the past few weeks. She hasn't been particularly interested, though she does recall Vastra remarking about the snow. There's some sort of commotion around the back and Ari looks up curiously and after hearing multiple male voices, scales the side of the estate carefully in her dress and the ice-slicked wall beneath her until she's perched on the roof, able to see in the back courtyard where about a dozen men stand around, rubbing their hands against the cold and looking up to the balcony. Then the man himself appears on the balcony, looking out over the obviously poor men with distaste. "Beg pardon, Dr. Simeon. It's been a long day. I don't see any food here." a worker says meekly. "I do." Dr. Simeon replies, his mouth twisted into a hateful scowl. Then, all of the sudden, snowmen jump from the ground, fully formed. And their mouths are twisted into horrible, toothy grins, all of them facing the workers. "What is this?" the same worker cries. "I said I'd feed you. I didn't say who to." Dr. Simeon points out, then the snowmen descend upon the workers and Ari jumps at least a foot in the air, nearly falling from her viewing position. Vastra did say something about the snow.

Her eyes wide, but hearts calm, she climbs back down, planning on going back to Paternoster Row and telling them about what she'd seen. But, on her way there, a hand roughly snatches her arm and yanks her into the alley beside her, shoving her at a wall. She looks up sharply, staring into the faces of a few teenage boys, a couple years older than her, bigger, too. "May I help you?" she asks, glaring and crossing her arms. "I hope so." one of them replies, flashing a smile with crooked teeth, one reminding her of that of the carnivorous snow. She swings her foot, hitting one of them square in the knee, the boy's leg giving out, but before she can run, the other four have her pinned back against the wall. "What's the matter?" the first one asks. "Well, I'm having the strangest feeling of obligation to run quickly away from you, now that you _do _mention it," she lowers her voice conspiratorially, "You haven't seen any mirrors lately, have you?" she quips.

"Why would I need to, when I have a pretty face like yours to look at?" another smile filled with crooked teeth and bad breath. Again, she thinks of the snowmen. And suddenly, there they are. The snowmen, around 6 of them, fly up from the ground, scaring the pants off of the street boys. "What is that?" their apparent leader demands, turning back to Ari. She lets out a mirthless laugh and sighs, stepping forward with a little tap of her foot, a half dance. "'Aven't you heard, dear?" she chuckles. "I'm the Snow Miser." It was a random act that popped into her head. She's faced with looks of confusion and horror. "I'm Mister White Christmas, I'm Mister Snow, I'm Mister Icicle, I'm Mister Ten Below." she belts out the last part, starting to sing to cover her wince when she feels more snowmen pop up behind her. But the boys have given her ample room to perform now. "Friends call me Snow Miser. Whatever I touch, turns to snow in my clutch," the boys are sprinting away from her now, looking over their shoulders to check if she's in pursuit. "I'm too much!" she sings, dropping a wink at them. Once they've rounded the corner, she doesn't stop singing.

"I never want to see a day that's over 40 degrees. I'd rather have it thirty, twenty, ten, five and let it _freeze!_" she cheers, spinning in a circle around the snowmen, watching them as they seem to watch her. "Friends call me Snow Miser, whatever I touch, turns to snow in my clutch… Too much." she concludes that part of her song, but then begins the second part.

"Let's make this hot." she says, grinning. "I'm Mister Green Christmas, I'm Mister Sun, I'm Mister Heat Blister, I'm Mister 101!" More snowmen form, but Ari isn't worried, she knows how to destroy them. "I never wanna see a day under 60 degrees, I'd rather have it 80 or 100 degrees! They call me Heat Miser, whatever I touch starts to melt in my clutch. I'm too much!" and with that, she pictures them all melted on on the floor in her mind, the snowmen bursting into freezing water with her eyes closed, and then she's sprayed with frigid melt, her dress getting wet and her hair drenched. She gasps and opens her eyes, looking around to see no snowmen in sight. She lets out a high-pitched giggle, laughing to herself, then whispers, "Yes!" pumping her arm.

Then, she realizes how late it's gotten and turns tail, running back to the estate she shares with John Smith, knowing that he'll be furious.

By the time she gets there, her cheeks and nose are pink, her feet are freezing, the freezing water that was splashed on her has turned frosty, sticking her hair together with ice and her breathing is shaking after sprinting all the way back. She makes her way to the door and opens it, seeing that inside is quiet and cold, save the fire she can see flickering in John's study. She closes the door very softly, barely making a sound, reaching down to unlace and remove her shoes, leaving her feet to move quietly in nothing but her thick stockings and creeps down the hall to the stairs soundlessly.

"Arianna." her name is called from John's study as an oil lamp is turned up, lighting the room, welcoming her. She swears under her breath and makes her way to his open door, stopping in the frame and looking at him with a sheepish smile. "Come in." he says, his eyes hard, his mouth pinched into a tight frown. John Smith's look of disapproval, not the Doctor's. The Doctor would give her soft, serious eyes and a mouth formed into a straight line, worming his way under her skin to get the truth out of her in the most infuriatingly caring way possible. John Smith is just cross with her, annoyed and probably used to be worried. But now that she's home safe, there is no worry in his gaze. But the Doctor always worries.

"Yes, sir." she slips back into her faked accent easily, even though she's barely used it in hours. "Where've you been?" John asks as she steps fully into the study, seating herself across from him and he gapes at her frosty, flushed appearance. "Out." she replies. "Just out? Out where?" John presses. "On the town. Walking. It's relaxing to just wander. You should try it some time." Ari says. He stays cooped up inside all the time, where as the Doctor would've gone nuts due to inactivity by now. Ari was getting ready to, until she was ambushed by psychic snow.

"For nearly eleven hours?" John deadpans. "My, how time flies when you're alone with your thoughts." she observes sagely, giving him the most innocent expression possible. John is completely unconvinced. "Arianna," she shouldn't cringe at the use of her full name, considering it isn't actually her name, but she does, "I was extremely worried. I was ready to go out looking for you. I want you to be completely honest with me and tell me where you've been." Ari says nothing. What can she say? "_Well, gee, first I was at the home of a lizard woman from the dawn of time and her wife, along with their pet potato-alien-butler. And then, I went into a magical bigger on the inside vessel hidden in the clouds to talk to someone in the future. After that, I witnessed angry carnivorous snowmen eat some guys. Finally, I was cornered by a gaggle of degenerates, but I scared them off with psychic snow and the lyrics to a song from the Christmas movie, _A Year Without Santa Claus." Of course she can't say that.

So, imagine her relief at the next sentence out of John's mouth. "Were you with a boy?" his face twists into a look of horror, but he asks the obvious question to aim at a teenage girl nonetheless. "Yes!" she chirps quickly, trying to make her face look embarrassed and regretful, the blush in her cheeks from the cold helping quite a bit. "I was with a boy," she continues, faltering under John's stern gaze and the realization that she has never had a boyfriend in her life and has absolutely no idea what a Victorian girl would be likely to do with one, "We were, uh, k-kissing." John pales, so Ari figures she's on the right track. "Yes. Me and my boyfriend were kissing," John still looks ready to talk with her more on the subject, so she steps it up a bit, "With tongue. My boyfriend's tongue was in my mouth and I am… pretty tired. It was a rather strenuous activity, you see, took a lot of concentration-" she continues but John cuts her off. "Fine! That's, uh, enough. Just… go to bed. And you are forbade from seeing him anymore." John says, looking rather green around the gills. She nods, stands and waves goodnight, vacating the room quickly, running up to her bedroom. All the while, she thinks about the psychic snow.

Changing into her frilly white nightgown which she totally did not pick for herself, Ari climbs into her bed, thinking that she should probably wash her hair, and then deciding that she will in the morning. Because she is tired, and tomorrow she needs to extend her investigation regarding the snow still falling outside her window. She closes her eyes and briefly wonders how in the hell she'll get out to see Vastra, Jenny and Strax tomorrow after admitting to a fake boyfriend who has-apparently-licked her mouth.

The first thing Ari is aware of in the morning is an odd, cold sensation over her legs. She opens her eyes groggily and peers over herself with bleary vision to see that her blanket has been yanked away from her and Maria stands over her, looking smug. "I was wonderin' when you were gonna wake up. Mr. Smith says to get you ready, you're going over to Captain Latimer's house today." Maria remarks, slapping Ari's bare calf gently. The girl sniffles, rubbing her eyes and shoving some of her curls that fall into her face in a fashion irritatingly similar to her father's out of her eyes, feeling the tangles that have formed there.

"I have a bath prepared." Maria continues, gesturing to the copper tub and the steaming water already poured in it, sitting behind an open changing screen, folded in on itself where it stands freely in the room, patterned with small birds on the screen meant to protect Ari's modesty. There's a towel, a dressing gown and a dress already set out for her. "Yeah, thanks." Ari says, covering her mouth to stifle a yawn. She goes over to it, stumbling slightly, and opens to screen to completely hide her from view. No matter that Maria is her personal chambermaid, she still has a little dignity that hasn't been washed away by corsets or pretend boyfriends.

Bathing is a very careful art in the 19th century. You only have so much water, and it only stays hot for so long in the winter. And it's a rather small tub you find yourself in, so you have to be careful not to spill, and also to be thorough because it isn't an everyday affair. They didn't bathe everyday, most days, perhaps, if you were monied. So, make it count. With the brush that does not take its job very seriously at all, Ari works the knots from her curls and then steps out, drying off and wrapping the long, plain dressing gown around her. After dressing, Maria shoves Ari into the chair in front of the mirror in her room, the cold air from the open window hitting them and rousing Ari from her sleepy daze as her hair is brushed out and fixed. Part of it is braided down the back of her head tightly, the rest hanging loose.

After being deemed presentable, she descends the stairs to find John, fully dressed and with a top hat on his head and a scarf wrapped around his neck, waiting for her. "Morning." Ari says cheerfully, pulling gloves onto her hands and smiling at John brightly. "It is, isn't it?" he remarks dryly, obviously not over their conversation from last night. They load into the carriage and John watches carefully as Ari gazes out of the window at the landscape that seems to have thawed over night. "It was only… kissing?" he asks hopefully. "Of course." Ari nods, casting a glance at him. "It's just, young ladies today can be very… outgoing, and I wanted-" John presses on, trying to speak his mind, but faltering. Ari picks up where he left off. "John, I swear to you that I will not participate in any sort of fornication until marriage." she spits out at him and he blushes a dark shade of crimson, but nods his relief.

They spend the rest of the ride in silence, not quite as uncomfortable as before after coming to the mutual understanding that the conversation about Ari's "boyfriend" is over. They reach the Latimer home, greet each other and then Ari is sent out to walk in the courtyard with Digby and Franny. "How have your nightmares been, Franny?" Ari asks, walking with the younger girl, hands clasped in front of her as they stroll over the dead grass. Ari has never done as much strolling in her entire life as she's done these past few months. "Worse. The governess comes out of the pond to get me." Franny says fearfully. Ari glances over to the small pool surrounded with cement. "That pond?" Ari nods to it and Franny ducks her head as they walk over to it. Ari taps the surface and finds that it's frozen solid. "Funny, it wasn't frozen yesterday." Franny remarks. Ari gets a bad feeling from the pond, as if there's something… under it.

"No?" Ari replies with little interest. "In the dream, she's always waiting for me, under the ice." Franny confesses, swallowing fearfully. "Waiting?" Ari repeats, her mind whirring. The snow is psychic, so the ice should be to, but what could it possibly be _waiting _for? "What do you think it means?" Franny asks the older girl. Ari shrugs. "I have no idea. But, I promise I'll find out." she says. "How?" Franny presses. "Oh, haven't you heard? I'm magic." Ari winks at Franny, who gives a light laugh despite her gloomy demeanor.

After a while, it becomes apparent that they won't be leaving anytime soon, but Ari needs to figure this pond business out before the next snowfall after the quick thaw that happened, but didn't effect this pond at all. She needs to journey to Vastra's home and speak with them. "Franny, I need you to cover for me. I've got to go somewhere secret so I can figure out what's happening here, but John can't know about it." Ari finally says. "What if there's an emergency?" Franny asks fearfully. Sighing, Ari gives her the address of the Paternoster Gang, telling her that if it's a real emergency, they could find help, there. Then, with a quick smile, she jumps up and vacates the courtyard, running out and jumping into the cab still waiting outside, ordering the driver to go, using a few choice threats and phrases to encourage him after he expresses his reluctance. "Now!" she snaps, then slams the door as they start moving.

Once they arrive at Paternoster Row, Ari jumps out and runs straight into the house, not knocking. "There's an intruder, Madame! Surrender, boy!" Strax shouts, running towards her with a gun. "It's me Strax; and for the last time. I. Am. A. GIRL!" Ari snaps, her anxiety to figure out the snow coming out as frustration towards the Sontaran. Her outburst actually gives him pause, before he apologizes like a chastised child. In more ways than one, he is.

"Vastra, Jenny, I've discovered several developments in your snow investigation!" Ari calls, walking into Vastra's study, filled with plants and rather humid, where the couple sits, the lizard not sporting her veil. "Ari, are you alright?" Jenny asks, worried. "Yes, but I do have some things to tell you." Ari takes a calming breath and recounts her discoveries to Vastra and Jenny, telling them her theories on how they could be connected. "And we need to find out before the next snowfall. Or else, Christmas is canceled." she concludes, knowing that the day is Christmas eve. "Of course. We were thinking about investigating Simeon. We'll go immediately and leave Strax here-" Vastra begins, but Ari cuts her off. "No. I'll go and bring Strax, because I promised a little girl that help could be found here and I'm not going to leave that promise in the hands of Strax." she says before rising, getting ready to leave, knowing that it's growing dark and she needs to figure this out now.

She grabs a cane from the front door and calls Strax at the same time she is stretching her telepathic abilities to speak with the TARDIS, telling it to move, staring up at the cloud cover as she does. She loads herself into the back of Strax's cab and they drive off to the GI Institute.

"Danger, danger!" the large globe of snow calls to Dr. Simeon where he stands in the study of his Institute. "What is it?" Dr. Simeon asks his lifelong companion quickly. "There is danger here. An intelligence beyond anything in this time and place." the Great Intelligence cries. There's a knock on the door and a servant steps in. "Dr. Simeon, sir, there's someone demanding to see you." the man says. "No callers, not in here, not ever. Did he leave his name?" Dr. Simeon asks. "Sir, it's Sherlock Holmes." the servant says as the door opens and a small figure steps in, sporting a deer stalker while carrying a walking cane and a pipe, which is unlit. Her dress falls to her ankles, but with the hand not holding her cane, she lifts it up to an obscene height, nearly to her knees, to better maneuver. "Oh, nice office," Ari remarks, spinning around to observe the whole room, "Big globey thing. Now, shut up! Don't tell me." she aims her cane at Dr. Simeon, who glares at her, affronted. "I can see from your collar stud that you've got an apple tree and a wife with a limp. Am I right?" she asks.

Ari figures that she has to be the Doctor now, considering he isn't in his own mind, rather he's tucked into her dress. So, she asked herself, what would the Doctor do? The answer of course, being that the Doctor would be outrageously ridiculous on purpose to distract while she gains information. Sherlock Holmes.

Dr. Simeon draws himself to his full height. "No." Ari doesn't falter. "Do you have a wife?" she presses. "No." Shot down again. "Bit of a tree? Bit of a wife? Some apples? C'mon, work with me here." she paces the room, advancing towards Dr. Simeon, then stops, whirling to look at the servant as Dr. Simeon says, "I enjoy The Strand magazine as much as the next man, but I am perfectly aware that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, and a man at that. Get out!" Ari rolls her eyes. "Sherlock is actually a girls' name," she points her cane at the servant, "Do you have a goldfish named Colin?" she asks loudly, causing him to jump. "No." he says. "Thought not." she says with a grin while the servant runs to get help.

"Now, ooh, I see this is one of your business cards, it says so on the front." she says, plucking it up from his desk. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Dr. Simeon demands as she walks towards the globe of snow. "This," she lifts her cane to bring it down on the globe, shouting, "Wakey, wakey!" Dr. Simeon jumps, horrified at her barbaric behavior and runs towards her. "That is highly valuable equipment, you must step away, now." he says. "We are the Intelligence." the snow announces in a deep voice and Ari grins. "Talking snow, I love new things." she says, bringing her face close to it as Dr. Simeon advances to glare directly down at her.

"You are not of this world." says the Intelligence. "Takes one to snow one," she pauses to laugh at her own joke, thinking that the Doctor would've laughed, "Right, let's see. Multi-nucleate, crystalline organism with the ability to mimic and mirror what it finds. Looks like snow, isn't snow." Ari even knew some of the words she just spit out. "You must leave here now." Dr. Simeon insists. "Oh, shut up, I'm making deductions. It's very exciting," she rises to move around the room, examining things closely. "Now, what're you, huh? I flock of space crystals? A swarm? The snowmen are footsoldiers, mindless predators. But you, you're the clever one. You're Moriarty. So, you turn up on a planet, you generate a telepathic field to learn what you can, and when you've learned enough, what do you do? You can't conquer the world using snowmen. Snowmen are crap in July. You'll have to evolve." Ari decides, sonicing the door locked. "Sir, it appears to be stuck!" the servant calls from the other side.

"What have you done, girl? Have you locked the doors?" Dr. Simeon snaps, but she ignores him. "You need to translate yourself into something more, well, human." she concludes. "Kick it down!" Simeon orders the servant. "To do that, you need a perfect duplicate of human DNA in ice form? Where do you get that?" Ari strides over to the desk. Simeon yells to his servant some more, but Ari pays them no mind.

"Now, let's see," she picks up the top, most worn file from his desk and drops it onto the floor, "Most used file, most looked at page." she announces when it falls open. There's a newspaper clipping headed with "Tragedy at Darkover House". "You know, you really should delete your history. Governess frozen in pond. I knew it!" Ari cheers. By the time the doors are opened, she's out the window. But, on her way back to Darkover House, she comes to a stark realization. She barely knew what she was saying in the Institute, making educated guesses and she happened to be right because she was using everything she had ever read that was locked away in her big Time Lord brain. The snow is coming, she can feel it in the air. "I can't do this alone." she whispers to herself.


	15. Cold Heart

**A/N: Reminder, this is not the last chapter or the end of the story. Enjoy!**

She needs the Doctor. It's been nearly two months, anyway, she'll just have to cut his vacation short. She fumbles and pulls the pocket watch out of her dress. She can hear it whispering, the Doctor whispering to her. "You've gotta wake up, now." she tells it as she walks quickly, knowing she'll have to face John Smith, first. "Closer." it says. Bring it closer to John. All the way back to Darkover House, she looks to the sky, anticipating the snow. She sees Strax, Vastra and Jenny waiting outside with their carriage, but she shakes her head at them. "Just wait." she says as they enter the house after her. "Ari!" John's voice shouts as she closes the door, not bothering to be quiet.

She joins the Latimers and the man who was her father in the lounge, all of them start at the sight of Strax and Vastra. "John. Don't speak, don't even say anything. There isn't time. Your nostalgia for something you don't think happened, was it from dreams you had?" she begs, grabbing his arm as soon as she sees him, gripping it tightly. "Ari, what's happening? Who are those people?" he ignores her question. "Please, John!" she cries, shaking him. "Yes, from funny dreams. I uh, I kept them in a journal, see?" he rummages around in his jacket for a moment, then produces his moleskin journal. Handing it to her sheepishly, she rifles through it, her Time Lord brain absorbing all of it in seconds and she grins. She holds the watch up.

"Now, look, I'm sorry, but I don't have time to be delicate. Those dreams and those people in the funny clothes. That odd box. That character you made of yourself, some man from the stars, they're all real. It's all real. You're the dream, John." Ari says quickly, while trying to be gentle. "I'm what? What are you talking about, Ari?" John just gapes at her, she huffs and grabs his hand, yanking him up the stairs. "Arianna, what do you think you're doing?" he shouts and she turns around, up a few steps so she can be face to face with him, and screams. "That's not my name. My name is not Arianna and your name is not John Smith. _You are not real! _And yes, I'm American." she snaps, shocking him into silence as she hitches up her skirt and pulls him along, straight out of a window. She shoves him out first, gripping her cane firmly and slides out after him. Walking over the roof with John close behind, reaches up with the cane and pulls down the ladder leading into the clouds. "What is that?" John asks quietly. "A ladder leading up to the clouds. You first." she nods for him to go ahead of her and he obliges, climbing up before her, then ascending the stairs, a look of wonder on his face.

They reach the cloud and John stops when he sees the box. "Do you recognize it?" Ari prompts. John doesn't answer. "Do you know its name?" she continues and John just looks at her. "It's a box. Just a blue box." he says. "No, you've seen it before. In your dreams. You've seen it when you dreamt of your legs hanging out of it over the stars, this is what you saw when you dreamt of home." Ari says, then goes over to unlock the door, pushing it open. John doesn't move when she steps in. "C'mon, it's okay. She won't hurt you. She looks a bit different than what you'll remember, but it's safe." Ari coaxes and John follows her inside, gazing around with wide eyes. "See?" she says, spinning to observe the ship.

Then, she holds the fob watch out to him, again. "Just hold it. It just wants to be held, come on. It won't hurt." Ari says. John steels himself and takes the watch from her. "Can you hear it?" Ari asks. "It, it's speaking to me. He-" John looks up curiously. "Say it, go on. You're not mad." Ari assures him. "The Doctor." he breathes. "The Doctor. He created you. A fake persona to protect himself… and me. John Smith was created in less than an hour." Ari explains gently. "I'm… a story? My whole life was just some lie to cover up something else? This?" John brandishes the watch at her with disgust. "I'm so sorry." Ari whispers. "Just open it and he's back." John glares at her. "Why should I? What is it for? You're done with me, now, and I'm just supposed to go quietly? Am I of no more use to you?" John snaps. "The world is in danger, John. We are all in danger and we need the Doctor, now." Ari pleads. "What sort of man does this?" John asks. "It was always going to end, John. The Doctor and I, we're running from something. We had to do this to hide. To hide away from a monster." Ari waves her arm angrily, "And you're not the only one suffering because of his choices. I'm out of my time, I had to pretend to be someone I'm not to protect you, to protect him! I had to go along with this act for months to protect him when it's _his job to protect me! _It is unfair. I know. But you were always a means to an end. And I'm sorry, but the end is now." Ari states plainly.

"I have to die for some man I have never met?" John still resists. "You _are _him. You have been based off of him, no matter how small of a part that might be. It's still him, it's still you. So, whatever you're afraid of, whatever you saw when you took that watch from me, that was you." Ari informs him quietly. "I have never killed anyone. I have never killed billions of people. I am no monster." John argues. Ari lets out a mirthless laugh. "Aren't we all? Aren't we all monsters? It's just a different kind. Please. We are all going to die, this entire world if you don't do this. And then you'll still be dead. So what's the point in fighting it?" Ari can't bring herself to shout anymore. John heaves a shaky sigh and closes his eyes, clenching the fob watch tightly in his fist. Then, he opens it.

A bright golden light shines out of it and onto his face, which goes slack with wonder and Ari steps back, unsure as to what will happen during his human-Time Lord transition. He throws his arms out, as if he's regenerating, dropping the watch as the golden light surrounds him, like stardust, and lets out a scream. Then, it ends, the light dies and the Doctor collapses. "Dad?" Ari asks uncertainly, approaching him carefully. His eyes open groggily and he looks up at her. The Doctor. "Hello." he says, groaning as he rolls over onto his back, sitting up. "No time for resting, c'mon." Ari announces, yanking him to his feet as he stares around in shock. "What happened to the TARDIS?" he asks, confused. "She redecorated, but right now, we need to worry about the psychic life form taking the shape of snow that is trying to lay siege to a pond in which a governess drowned in, leaving a perfect sample of human DNA in ice form, exactly what they need to take over the Earth." Ari says breathlessly as they make their way out of the TARDIS, to see that it started to snow.

"Oh, no." Ari gasps as she and the Doctor retreat back the staircase, making their way back inside, going down to the study to greet everyone. "Hello, wonderful to meet you all. I'm not John Smith." he announces grandly, waving his arm in a gesture of greeting, winking at the Paternoster Gang fondly.

"So," the Doctor searches his person for his sonic screwdriver, looking confused until Ari holds it out to him, "You said a pond lady is going to help snow end the world?" he asks, looking at Ari. "Yep. This really mean old guy named Simeon is helping them. The snowmen," Ari nods to the ones standing outside, "are just the brawn. I met the brain and he called himself the Intelligence." The Doctor's eyes widen fractionally, and he nods, scanning the snowmen and frowning at what he gets for his efforts. Ari joins him by the window and swallows. "Uh, Dad. The ice is cracked." she says, looking at the broken pond, where it used to be frozen solid. There's a large crash and a scream from upstairs. "Oh." Ari breathes, then whirls around, noticing the children's absence. "Franny's been having nightmares for weeks about the governess." Ari says and the Doctor fits the pieces together. "She's the one that gave it life." he says, before Ari snatches his hand and yanks him up the stairs and into the nursery. "Hey, you don't pull me around! I do the hand pulling thing!" he protests as she drags him along and they burst into the room, seeing the ice form of a thin woman with a stern bun and sharp teeth stalking the kids.

The two see the Doctor and Ari and yell for help, the Doctor ducks behind a puppet stage and aims the sonic at the Governess, causing her to melt. He picks up a Mr. Punch puppet and waves it around, "That's the way to do it!" he cheers as the children stare at him like they've never seen him before. "Not John Smith. Just looks like him." Ari supplies, taking them both by the hands and pulling them away from their beds. "Where'd she go? Is she coming back?" Digby asks. The Doctor looks at him, assessing both of the Latimer children's fearful faces and wide eyes, before smiling.

"No, don't worry, she's currently draining through your carpet," the Doctor flips the sonic into the air and winks at Ari, "New setting; antifreeze." Ari gives him a small smile in return, squeezing the hands of Digby and Francesca. Digby pulls on her arm to gain her attention. "Do you remember a few weeks ago when Franny was upset, so you told her about a man who lived on a cloud? And all he did all the time was keep children from having nightmares? And we didn't believe you." Ari nods, remembering when Franny had been close to tears due to restless nights and horrible nightmares. She told her the same thing River had told Ari when Ari was little. Another fairytale. Digby glances at the Doctor meaningfully, who smiles sheepishly. "In the flesh." Ari confirms Digby's suspicions and Franny scowls at the Doctor, who comes over to them, still eyeing the water stain on the rug. "I've been having nightmares." she accuses. "He's been on holiday. That's why he used to be John Smith, you see. So he could vacation." Ari explains, then looks over the Doctor's shoulder as the room grows suddenly colder. There's a lump forming under the rug. "Dad." she warns and he turns around, seeing it and groaning.

"She's coming back!" Digby cries. "What's she going to do? Is she going to punish me?" Franny asks, her face crumpling. "Uh, uh, she's learned not to melt. Of course, she's not really a governess, she's just a beast," the Doctor pauses, realizing there's nothing on the sonic that he's been messing with to help them, "She's going to eat you. Run." he says, ushering them out of the room and down the stairs. Captain Latimer is downstairs waiting for them. "What the devil is going on here?" he shouts as the children pass him, running into the lounge and standing in the corner. Vastra and Jenny step up, prepared to handle the situation. "Hello. I'm a lizard woman from the dawn of time and this is my wife." Vastra says, gesturing to Jenny. Latimer blinks rapidly in surprise.

"This dwelling is under attack. Stay calm, human scum!" Strax says, coming into the hall, also, in his armor and brandishing a gun. This causes Alice, the maid, to feint.

"So, any questions?" the Doctor asks with a smile. "Doctor, you're up to speed with the situation?" Vastra asks. "Doctor, who's the Doctor?" Captain Latimer shouts. "He is. Your friend John Smith in reality is a man from the stars called the Doctor." Ari provides and Captain Latimer's face falls into a further state of confusion. The Doctor claps Captain Latimer on the shoulder as he passes, going to join Vastra by the window. "Vastra, what's happening?" he asks. "The snow is highly localized, and on this occasion not naturally occurring." the Silurian says. "It's coming out of that cab parked by the gates." Jenny provides, pointing. "Sir, one pulver grenade would blow these snowmen to smithereens." Strax says with a grin. "Strax, they're made of snow. They're already smithereens." the Doctor points out. Then, the ice lady comes tottering towards the stairs. "That's the way to do it!"

"Meanwhile your late governess is now a living ice sculpture impersonating Mr. Punch. Jenny, what have you got?" the Doctor turns to the chambermaid, who pulls out a small ball from her pocket, throwing it onto the stairs where it creates a purple forcefield. "Sir, this room," Strax calls, "One observational window on the line of attack and one defendable entrance." The Doctor looks towards the room. "Right, everyone in there," he points to the room, "You, carry her." he tells Captain Latimer in regards to his maid. "Strax, how long have we got?" the Doctor asks the Sontaran after everyone congregated into the study. "They're not going to attack. They made no attempt to conceal their arrival. An attack force would not give up surprise so easily and they're clearly in a defense formation." Strax rattles off. The Doctor grinds his knuckles into Strax's head. "Well done, Straxie. Still got it, buddy." he kisses the top of the Sontaran's head and then grimaces, spitting as if to rid himself of a bad taste. "Sir, please do not noogie me during battle prep." Strax grumbles.

"So," the Doctor says, pacing, "There's something here they want." Ari looks up at him. "The governess." she supplies, knowing he's deducing. "Exactly." Jenny huffs. "Why's she so important?" she asks. "Because she's the perfect duplication of human DNA in ice crystal form. The ultimate fusion of snow and humanity. To live here, the snow needs to evolve and she's the blueprint. She's what they need to become. When the snow melted last night, did the pond?" he directs the question to Ari. "No." she replies promptly. "Living ice that will never melt. If the snow gets its hands on that creature on the stairs, it will learn to make more of them. It will build an army of ice. And it will be the last day of humanity on this planet."

The doorbell rings. The Doctor aims a finger at Ari. "Stay." he orders and then goes out into the entrance hall, Ari following quickly behind. "Oi, I told you to stay in there." he exclaims, noticing her. "Oh, I didn't listen." she replies."You do that a lot." the Doctor mutters. "Must be a genetic thing." Ari quips. The Doctor opens his mouth to retaliate, but then there's a firm knock on the door. The Doctor walks over to open it. On the stoop stands Dr. Simeon, who glares at Ari hatefully before looking to the Doctor. "Give her to us. You have five minutes." he then turns away and the Doctor slams the door. "We need to get her out of here and keep her away from them at the same time." the Doctor decides. "How?" Ari asks. "We have to go up to the roof." the Doctor replies and Ari grins. "That was clever, by the way, very clever. Me, clever, even." he continues. "I'm very you these past two months. Did I tell you I got information out of Simeon by pretending to be Sherlock Holmes?" she waves her cane at him, picking it up where she left it by the wall. "Very me." the Doctor agrees, smiling fondly at her.

They reach the stairs and have a silent standoff, the Doctor finally relinquishing with a sigh of defeat. "Come on, then." she says as he sonics the forcefield, momentarily disarming it, but it appears after he passes with Ari close behind him. The governess takes a swing at them with her icy arm and they duck beneath her, sprinting up the stairs. "That's the way to do it!" the ice lady squawks from behind them as they make for the window to the roof. "Why does she keep saying that?" Ari yelps, avoiding another grab from the woman. "Mirroring, just random mirroring." the Doctor says, sliding nimbly out of the window, reaching back to give Ari a tug, worried that her attire would slow her down. When she stumbles out and into him, losing her footing in her leather, heeled boots, giving her an inch or two, he almost forgets she isn't a Victorian young lady. As she walks forward to where the ladder is hidden, he speaks up. "You blend in rather well, you know," he says, working his way to his actual point, "Like a pretty 19th century doll." Pulling down the ladder, Ari looks back at him curiously. "Thank you. For looking after me, I mean." the Doctor concludes awkwardly, stepping onto the ladder when Ari motions for her to go first.

He gets to the top and watches as Ari casts a glance at the ice lady coming at her from the window, before tapping the rung above her with her cane and the ladder sliding up, delivering her onto the staircase. "Taller on the inside." she remarks to the Doctor, who grins at her. They go up, running from the governess, who ascends below them, cackling. They reach the cloud and the Doctor steps into the TARDIS, the new interior giving him pause. "Why'd she redecorate?" the Doctor asks. "Dunno. Maybe she knows something we don't." Ari replies quietly, leaning against the TARDIS console. The Doctor frowns and turns back to the console, neither of them noticing the governess entering the TARDIS until she grips Ari, dragging her towards the door. "Dad!" Ari yelps, struggling to get away, kicking out as the Doctor pursues them, keeping a mindful eyes on how close they're getting to the edge of the cloud. Ari notices too and clenches her eyes shut. "Let her go." the Doctor says. The governess just sneers. "Let her go, _now!_" the Doctor shouts, just before they both fall off of the edge.

During the very far fall, Ari reminds herself over and over again of her species. She's a Time Lord. She will regenerate. She is a Time Lord. She will regenerate. She is a Time Lord. She is terrified. Until there's a smash of her body hitting the hard snow and the governess smashing to pieces at the same time her bones breaks and all of the air is knocked out of her chest.

There's a loud crash outside among the snowmen, calling the people hiding in the lounge to attention. "It's Ari." Jenny calls and Vastra scans her with her tricorder, frowning at the results she gets. "Is she dead?" Jenny asks, looking at the girl's limp form. "No. Injured, badly." Vastra replies grimly and Captain Latimer is about to go out to fetch her when an odd… wheezing, groaning sound echoes throughout the courtyard and the TARDIS materializes around her and the shards of the governess. "What is that? What's happening?" Latimer yelps. "He's bringing her in." Vastra explains solemnly. The TARDIS appears in the corner of the study and the door opens. Inside Ari and the shards of the ice lady are on the floor. One is scattered about, the other is just broken. Ari's eyes are open, aimed at the Doctor hazily as he bends down and lifts her very carefully into his arms, grimacing when she lets out a high-pitched whimper at being moved.

Strax and Jenny hurriedly clear the desk while Vastra tries to calm the Latimers as the Doctor carries her out, placing her on the cleared table gently, her eyes fluttering as she struggles to remain conscious. "I'll be right back." he says to her, touching her head gently before leaving her in the care of Strax and Jenny as Vastra follows him back into the TARDIS. He picks up the pieces of the broken ice, scanning them with his sonic and muttering to himself. "Isn't the creature still a danger? Couldn't it reform?" Vastra asks. "No, not in here." the Doctor says, eyes on the shards as he drops them into a box. "Then you should be with Ari." the lizard reasons. A small yelp of pain from outside seems to punctuate her statement.

"She's going to be fine. She's like me, she'll regenerate." the Doctor states firmly. "Doctor, her injuries are severe and she has shown no signs of healing like you would, or regeneration." Vastra says gently. "It was my fault. She was with me, in my care. And she spent the past two months without even that. I did this." the Doctor says, tucking his sonic away. "What is the point of blaming yourself?" Vastra asks dryly. "None. Because she's going to live." the Doctor replies, closing the box and walking out of the TARDIS. He hands the London Underground lunchbox to Jenny and ducks down to talk to Ari, putting a hand to her head. "Hello." he says and she opens her eyes to look up at them. "Hi. You're back." Ari notices, her voice breathy and quiet. "I was only gone a minute." the Doctor reminds her. "Two months." she corrects him and the Doctor cringes. "Sorry about that." he says sheepishly. "It's fine. But I want you to know, when I told John I was Frenching my boyfriend," the Doctor makes a face and is rewarded with a tiny breath of laughter, "I wasn't really. I don't have a boyfriend. I just didn't want to tell him I was spending time with an interspecies lesbian couple and their combat ready Mr. Potato Head." Ari says, making a totally serious face.

"He might've feinted." the Doctor muses and they share another laugh. "I'm not regenerating." she says, looking at him seriously. "Not yet." he says firmly. "What if I don't? They think I'm gonna die." Ari refers to the others in the room. "You won't. And you know why? Because you've already survived the hard part. That fall would've killed a human. But you lived. So, that means you're going to be fine." the Doctor explains, then thinks of Dr. Simeon. He still has a planet to save. "Go on, go save the day. It's almost Christmas, be a shame if the world ended, now." she tells him, nodding as much as she is able. He kisses her forehead, rises, takes the box back from Jenny and straightens his bow tie, walking back to the front door, opening it to Dr. Simeon. He rattles the box at the stern looking gentleman. "In here is a piece of the ice lady. Everything you need to make your army. Want it?" Simeon reaches out to retrieve the box, "See you at the office, then." the Doctor decides, having lifted a business card off of Latimer and knowing where to go. Vastra follows him into the TARDIS and watches as he runs out, flying the TARDIS back to the GI Institute. There are words on her lips that the Doctor needs to realize, but he doesn't need to hear them.

The both of them are waiting when Simeon storms into the office. "You have promised us something. Did you bring it?" he asks abruptly. "Big fella here's been very quiet since you've been out. Which is only to be expected, considering who he really is." the Doctor raises the box, "Do you know what this is, big fella?" the Doctor asks the globe. "I do not understand these markings." the snow replies. "A map of the London Underground, 1967. Key strategic weakness in metropolitan living, if you ask me, but then, I have never liked a tunnel." the Doctor says with a small smirk, like he knows something the rest of them don't.

"Enough of this. We are powerful, but on this planet we are limited. We need to learn how to take human form." the snow snaps, annoyed. Petulant. The Doctor takes this opportunity to use his sonic screwdriver, raising the pitch of the voice. "The Governess is our most perfect replication of humanity." the voice gets higher still. "What's happening to its voice?" Vastra asks. "Just stripping away its disguise." the Doctor says as the snow panics. "No, stop! Stop that! Cease, I command you!" it cries. "It sounds like a child." Vastra wonders. "Of course it sounds like a child, it is a child, Simeon as a child. The snow has no voice without him." the Doctor explains. "Don't listen to him, he's ruining everything!" the snow yells to Simeon, but with the loss of its mask, it seems to also lose its power of persuasion. "How long has the intelligence been talking to you?" the Doctor asks Simeon. "I was a boy. He was my snowman." Simeon admits, his face falling with the heartbroken confusion only children can usually master.

"But the snow doesn't talk, does it? It's just a mirror." the Doctor reasons as Simeon's face dawns with realization, and then denial. "It just reflects back everything we think and feel and fear. You poured your darkest dreams into a snowman and look, look what it became." the Doctor points at the globe. "I don't understand." Vastra interjects. "It's a parasite feeding on the loneliness of a child and the sickness of an old man. Carnivorous snow meets Victorian values and something terrible is born." the Doctor explains. "We can go on and do everything we planned!" the snow calls. "Oh yes, and what a plan, a world full of living ice people. Oh dear me, how very Victorian of you." the Doctor mocks. "What's wrong with Victorian values?" Simeon sneers, snatching the box from the Doctor and opening it, but the Doctor stops him before he lifts the lid all of the way.

"Ah, ah, ah. Are you sure?" he asks. "I've always been sure." Simeon spits, opening the lid. From inside a box, a strange, blueish creature like a caterpillar lunges out and bites Simeon's hand. "What is that?" Vastra asks. "Memory worm. I knew I kept one around for some reason," as Simeon falls to the ground, the Doctor crouches next to him. "I'm glad you think so, since your entire life is about to be erased. No parasite without a host. Without you it will have no voice. Without the governess it will have no form." the Doctor says, uncaringly. "What's happening? What did you do? What did you?" the snow cries. "You've got nothing to mirror anymore. Good bye." the Doctor waves farewell to the snow as it flurries inside the globe, whispering. "What did you? Did you? Did you?" its voice once again deepens. "Did you really think it would be so easy?" it asks on a menacing chuckle.

"That is not possible. How is that possible?" the Doctor snaps. "Doctor, what's happening?" Vastra asks, backing away. "But you were just Dr. Simeon! You're not real, he dreamed you." the Doctor protests. "Now the dream outlives the dreamer and can never die. I was once the puppet," Dr. Simeon springs up from the floor, his entire body blue and iced over, "Now I pull the strings!" the snow roars. "I tried so long to take a human form. By erasing Simeon, you made room for me. I fill him now." Simeon knocks Vastra aside and tackles the Doctor, shoving him to the ground and pressing his hand to the Time Lord's face. "More than snow, more than Simeon. Even this old body is strong in my control." the snow jeers and the Doctor's face starts to grow pale, Simeon is freezing him. He lets out a shout. "Can you feel it Doctor? Winter is coming! Winter is coming!" the snow yells. The Doctor is almost sure he's done for, when all of the sudden the globe is filled with snow melt.

"What's happening?" the snow shouts. "Doctor, it's turning into rain, the snow, all of it. Look." Vastra says, going to the window as Simeon dies. "He's dead. What happened?" Vastra inquires. "The snow mirrors, that's all it does. It's mirroring something else now. Something so strong it drowns out everything else." the Doctor opens the window. "There was a critical mass of snow at the house. If something happened there…" the Doctor's stomach drops and they both taste the rain. "It's salty. Saltwater rain." Vastra remarks, shocked. "It's not raining. It's crying. The only force that could drown out the snow. A whole family crying on Christmas Eve." the Doctor finishes his sentence and then looks at Vastra, who gives him a look of horror and they both run back to the TARDIS.

They materialize clumsily and the Doctor sprints out, running into Strax. "I'm sorry, there's nothing to be done. She isn't showing any signs of regeneration and her injuries are too severe. She has moments, only." the Sontaran says. The Doctor goes to Ari's side and she looks up at him through tear blurred eyes. "We did it, Ari. We saved the world, you and me." the Doctor whispers. "We did?" Ari asks hopefully, giving him a watery smile. "Yeah. But you've got to regenerate, now. You have to live, Ari. It's not that bad, sort of hot for a minute, and then it's over and you've got a new face." the Doctor urges her, but she gives a pitiful shake of her head. "I can't. I've been trying, but it just isn't working. I could use it to heal you, but not me." she whispers, losing breath and her voice, gasping for air. "You're a Time Lord." the Doctor argues. "25% human, remember? That 25 is really taking its toll today, Daddy." Ari says shakily, the words barely ghosting past her lips.

"No, you can't." the Doctor takes her hand, his other one coming up to wrap around the top of her head, brushing his thumb over her forehead. "Don't want to." Ari says and lets out a bitter laugh, immediately regretting it as it rips through her painfully and she lets out a pathetic whine, her forehead creasing with the stabbing pain in her ribs. Gripping his hand as tightly as she can, tears slide out of her eyes and roll over her temples as Ari tries to control any sobs that may be painful to her battered form.

The Doctor brushes her face off for her and she tries to pretend that there aren't other people in the room, watching her weep before she dies. She didn't want to go like this. Of course, who really likes how they're dying when they're in the act?

The Doctor stifles his own tears, swallowing them back down his throat and forcing his eyes to remain dry. It isn't his place to cry right now. It's only for him to allow her to cry all she wants and not be embarrassed about it. The Doctor needs to comfort her. "I don't know… what to say." she chokes out. "I wanna say something. But what?" The Doctor shrugs and gripes for something to talk about.

"It's been a year, you know. Just about. Since we met in Seattle." the Doctor says to Ari and she smiles, nodding in agreement. "Doesn't feel like it." she replies, thinking of how it seems longer because of everything she's seen and done and become, but also shorter because she never expected it to end and certainly not like this. "Do you get scared when you die?" she asks on a shuddering breath. She feels herself slowing to a painful stop. Her hearts pitifully hammering away in a pathetic, broken chest that will never be fixed, desperately trying to save something that will never work properly again. "Every single time." the Doctor admits, squeezing her hand tightly. "Good, because I'm terrified." Ari says, choking on her words. "Of course you are. There'd be something wrong if you weren't." the Doctor can't tell her not to be, she's dying. "What happens next?" Ari asks, looking at him like she's sure he knows. Why shouldn't he? He's died a few times, he's been around for a while. Shouldn't he have found the mystical, ominous, anonymous "next"? He hasn't. And he tells her so, his hearts shattering as she just nods and chokes up a few more ragged breaths before it stops.

She stops. Her eyes glaze over and her fingers loosen their grip on his hand. Her face relaxes unnaturally, no expression or life left. Her cheeks are still warm with the tears continuing to fall over them. She's done. Too early, but she's come to a quiet end.


	16. Fashionably Late

**A/N: 2,300 reads! Woo! You guys are awesome, and sorry for the wait. But here it is.**

_Vastra, Jenny, and Strax only looked on. The Latimers tried to stop him, to keep him from standing abruptly after long minutes of silence, only the sounds of eight people breathing when there used to be nine. He had gathered the dead girl up in his arms, no longer given pause by a noise of discomfort or pain, and carried her into the TARDIS. They let him fly away and knew they may never see him again. _

He doesn't know how long it's been. Keeping track of time doesn't really matter to the Doctor, anymore. All that matters is that he's the only one in the TARDIS. He hadn't called Amy, Rory, or River. He knew they would demand to _see _her. As if that would make it any less real. And then they would _cry. _Oh they would cry, and the Doctor would be inclined to cry with them. He wouldn't, he was too far past that, now. It's too late.

His child is dead.

He can't even bear to burn her body, but the TARDIS helped with that. The machine has its own nanogenes, which keep her from decaying. They were also able to reset her bones and even change her out of that Victorian dress the Doctor knew must have annoyed her. So, he left her. She's still in her bed, where he put her and allowed the TARDIS to try and make her look less dead. Her ribs were realigned and that crooked leg was set, the bones fixed. But they would never heal.

The Doctor can barely bring himself to do anything. He sits in the library, in front of the always lit fireplace. Quietly. He doesn't sleep, he doesn't dare. He's afraid he'll dream of her. He'll have to speak with her, of course, or maybe she'll speak to him. Blame him, probably, because what else does he deserve? His fault. Left the damn TARDIS doors open, didn't make sure that it was safe. Left her on her own for months. But the lack of sleep doesn't mean he's saved from dreams during waking. Sometimes, he'll hear footsteps outside or behind him, the distant noise of her singing at an obnoxious volume to some song that she has stuck in her head. He'll see a flash of brown curls out of the corner of his eye. Oddly enough, he'll never turn his head, because then it will disappear, and he doesn't truly want it to. He even wishes for the times when her screaming during the throes of some nightmare would call him to her room. Now, the only noise coming from her room is a deafening silence. And… does guilt have a noise? It's like an empty ringing in your head that stretches down to your stomach, filling your chest with a blank nothing.

The TARDIS changed completely now. Not just the console room, but the corridors, the temperature, everything. Above the freestanding console and time rotor is his guilt in tangible form. Spinning names of all of his companions etched in Circular Gallifreyan above it. But no Ari. Maybe once he burns her body, her name will be burned black up there, too. The Doctor changed, too, changed his clothes. No more retro tweed and obnoxious red bow tie. A long purple tweed coat over a waistcoat and a dress shirt, unbuttoned at the top of his throat with no bow tie. He can't stand himself, going around, erasing everything of himself, trying to hide. Ignoring the ringing of the phone on the console, even when the TARDIS puts the phone in the library one day, trying to call him out, trying to tell him something he doesn't want to hear. The Doctor retaliates by seeking out the bar he knows is in the TARDIS somewhere. He puts his four kidneys and two livers to good use, drinking. Earth alcohol, space alcohol, he drinks it like water and it barely affects him. It'll offer a numbing sensation for a while, fogging his mind, but then his blood with be cleansed of it and he'll have to drink more.

There the Doctor sits, in the library, glass of amber liquid in hand, staring at something on the table in front of him. It wasn't there before, but it's certainly familiar. The sketch book that was Ari's life line for weeks, she would sit in bed for hours and scribble in it. The Doctor never did see her drawings. Some of them are things he'll never fully understand, images from her memories or nightmares. A simple sketch of a dark room with charcoal, a small bloody hand, maybe her own. But they're wonderful. And others are of things he can recognize. His legs sticking out from under the old console, Amy's orange hair spread out over the floor of the library, her pale face and green eyes peeking out from under the veil of her hair falling over her face, maybe from some late night conversation they had. Time Lords are detail oriented, photographic memories making it possible for them to remember tiny parts of a large scene with nearly no effort. That's how Ari was able to draw the entire console room from memory, how she could possibly depict River in her prison garb, gun in hand, smirk on her lips to hide to worry in her eyes. There are even pictures of the Silents that she should not be able to remember at all.

There are pictures of the Doctor, also. Smiling at her over the console, screaming at her to count from the first time they met, blushing profusely after River kissed him. Views from outside the TARDIS, swirling galaxies and exploding stars. She drew to cope and the Doctor keeps wiping his face to make sure any tears that fall won't smudge the pages.

Down several corridors in a closed room with nothing living inside, something stirs. The dead body on the bed moves, her mouth opening, a small trickle of regeneration dust slithering out and dispersing into the air. Then, her whole body starts to glow. A moment after that, with a strangled cry, her arms fly out to lay spread eagle across her bed and she explodes with gold. Screaming, she regenerates, scorching the blankets and lighting up the room around her. She jerks up when the light dies, sitting and looking around her wildly. Bedroom on the TARDIS, her bones are no longer broken. She isn't wearing her gown anymore, but the body under the black tee shirt when she looks down at herself seems to be the same. She grabs at her head, yanking her hair in front of her eyes, seeing the curls and sighing. No physical change, then. She stretches and climbs out of bed, her legs shaking slightly beneath her, her feet covered in thick, fluffy red socks making no noise as they move across the floor. Creeping into the hallway, she jumps in shock at the change. The console room she knows is different, but the entire TARDIS?

She's been gone too long. Whatever happened, she died and didn't regenerate soon enough. With that realization in mind, she goes off to find the Doctor.

The Doctor hears the door to the library creak open. That happens too, sometimes. Then, a soft noise of small, socked feet making their way over the polished wood floor. It gets louder as they approach him. The Doctor's breath hitches when a word breaks the silence. "Dad?" the voice whispers, cracking. _Must've fallen asleep, _he muses. Then a small figure moves like a wisp, coming around the sofa softly and what would appear to be his daughter is standing in front of him.

She steps forward and pulls the glass of amber liquid out of his hand as he watches her dispassionately, knowing she isn't real and is only here because his subconscious is trying to torture him. Detail oriented minds, that's why she looks so incredibly real. But if he tries, he'll find a mistake. Her voice will be wrong, or the coloring of her eyes, the exact depth will be off. "Dad," she says again, settling the glass down. Not her voice, "Dad, look at me. Look, I'm fine," she crouches in front of him and his eyes follow, trained on her face. Her open eyes full of life. And they're exactly right. "You're dead." he informs her anyway, his voice scratchy from lack of use. "No. I'm so sorry, I regenerated. It just took longer than I would've liked. Come on, I'm right here." she takes his hand that's resting on his knee, the one that previously held his glass and squeezes it, moving the sketchbook from his lap as if it's distracting him from the truth.

"No." he says stubbornly. He won't fall for this. If he believes her, even for a second, it'll only make it so much worse. She sighs, tears welling in her eyes. Then, she stands abruptly and slaps him across the face, hard. His head snaps to the side, then back to the front, eyes wide with shock. Hallucinations like this have never hit him before, physically. They would only hate him and tell him so, scream at him. Oddly, they never hit him. He gets to his feet quickly and ignores her, running to her bedroom. No body. No body on the bed, but the comforter is scorched and it smells… it smells like regeneration energy. Sort of tangy and metallic, warm on his nose. He turns back around to look at the girl standing behind him, arms crossed and waiting, looking up at him calmly.

He takes a large step and picks her clear off of her feet, pulling her into a bruising hug and then crouching so she can stand and he holds the back of her head. "Christ." Ari says, voice muffled by his shoulder, but she grips the back of his coat anyway. Tears fall into her hair and onto her shoulder, but she pretends not to notice, holding tighter to his jacket. Around them, the TARDIS thrums with joy, brushing their minds to tell them so. The TARDIS has a strong connection with both of their minds, as is customary with all TARDISes and their pilots, especially with the Doctor after centuries of running together. He had blocked her out for the past… however long because she was inconsolable over Ari's death and resentful of the Doctor's behavior. Changing her interior, demanding her to help change _him. _The Doctor hadn't understood the strong bond the TARDIS had expressed towards Ari immediately upon her arrival. Even after discovering his paternal relationship with the girl, he couldn't quite understand it. Another Time Lord would be important to the TARDIS, seeing as in all likelihood it would one day be Ari's TARDIS, but such love for one person? Him, certainly, because he was her Thief, but Ari was some girl. But then, after she died, the Doctor understood it. Ari was the TARDIS's child just as much as she was the Doctor's and River's. It was motherly affection. Because River and the TARDIS were so close, the TARDIS immediately felt responsible for her daughter. And the Doctor's sure that the first time he saw Ari in the TARDIS wasn't the first time she ever stepped foot inside. Not with River as her mother and their frustratingly out-of-order relationship.

She lost her child just like the Doctor did.

Ari curls her fists around the Doctor's jacket and chokes out what he thought was a sob into his jacket, until he feels the regeneration energy hit him, very warm and buzzing with life. Normal part of the regeneration cycle, but it keeps pouring out of her mouth until her knees give out and her face crumples at pain rushing through her entire body. Curling in her stomach, the regeneration energy is very pretty, certainly, but if feels like it's eating her up from the inside out. "What's happening?" She chokes, before gasping as her hands start to glow again, as if she's still in the middle of regeneration. The Doctor has no choice but to release her and move a safe distance away, worried that if she does regenerate… again, he'll get hurt. Crumpling into a ball on the floor, she curls around her stomach, hands tucked under her arms as if trying to quell the burning roaring through her chest all the way to her head and down to her toes. All of her is on fire.

"What are you feeling? Ari?" the Doctor calls to her, kneeling to her level from a few feet away, trying to assess what's wrong with her. "Like I'm being burned up. Not like it felt the first time at all." Ari grinds out through tightly clenched together teeth. "It may be that you're incompatible. You're part human, which is why it took you so long to regenerate in the first place. Of course, Gallifreyan genes tend to be dominant, so your body was forced into regeneration." the Doctor explains quickly. "And? Why is this still happening?" Ari groans. "Well, it was forced. It may not have worked all of the way. You regenerated just enough to come back to life, but not enough to complete the process." the Doctor continues.

"How do I complete regenerating?" Ari howls as she starts to glow and then it dies again, the pain twists through her and then settles to a dull ache for a moment. "I don't know. This is as new to me as it is to you." the Doctor replies, ringing his hands. "Just… try to!" he finally spits out, much to Ari's annoyance. "I tried the first time, if you don't recall. Or, maybe you actually don't because you left." Ari snaps unthinkingly, the pain radiating from her hearts to melt away her entire being making hurtful words fall from her mouth. She looks up to see her father's face fall with a fresh wave of guilt and she softens. "Dad," she says, but is cut off by a wince and then a choked sob. She seizes up, her muscles tightening and shaking with every golden glow of her body. The Doctor doesn't know how to help her. So, he does the only thing he can, he goes to a safe place. The Ponds, the Ponds will always be safe, always help him. Lifting Ari up, knowing that the Ponds would always help him. Even if he's been gone for months. Even if he's changed. He carries her into the new console room and settles her gently into the chair, flying the TARDIS out into the Ponds' living room, the door flying open while the Doctor is picking Ari back up. Rory walks in and glares at him, followed by Amy, whose eyes fly to Ari, but the Doctor notices that they're red-rimmed, as if she's been crying.

"River called last week. Said she just had a-a dream conference with Vastra. She told us everything." Amy says, eyes glued to her granddaughter. "Not dead!" the Doctor announces, nodding to Ari, who hacks as if punctuating his statement. "Well, I say that now." the Doctor continues, shifting her in his arms and walking out past his angry companions and dropping Ari gently to the couch. "Regeneration only worked a little bit with her funny genetics. Stopped about halfway through, and she can't force it, she tried before… Well. And it didn't work." the Doctor explains hurriedly, turning to come face to face with Amy, who slaps him hard across the face. "What was that for?" the Doctor yelps. "Leaving her. And then not coming back. We had to find out from River, who found out from a lizard lady. She's distraught!" Amy shouts at the Doctor, who blinks in surprise.

"Yes, well, bigger fish at the moment, Amelia." the Doctor reminds Amy, who looks to Ari's grimacing face and agrees. "What can we do?" Rory asks. "Absolutely nothing." the Doctor cheers. "Then why are you here?" Rory comes around the sofa to look the Doctor straight in the eye. "Needed a safe place. This is it, my safe place." the Doctor admits bashfully. "Wouldn't the TARDIS be more useful? Super-future infirmary and all that?" Amy prompts. The Doctor thinks back to the med bay, in shambles. Every piece of equipment broken, the beds ripped apart, everything shattered by the Doctor in a drunken fit of rage and decides against it. "Nah, medicine won't help her."

Breathing heavily, Ari dispels more regeneration energy and the Doctor thinks of how big of a signal that will be for any passing ship for light years, a sign that reads "free fuel, finders keeper," right above her head. As soon as the thought strikes him, the world outside grows dark. Rory checks the window and pales. "Ah." he says as a large spaceship floats overhead, following the signal. "Is there just some sort of announcement that sounds every time you're on Earth? Telling aliens to invade?" Amy asks the Doctor in annoyance. "Well, not usually. But that stuff," the Doctor points to the regeneration dust, "Is pure energy. Cheap fuel, keep anything running for a few lifetimes. And it's easy to track. With good technology, you could follow it within seconds." the Doctor says, joining the other two by the window. Suddenly, the TV flips on and a screeching sort of sound reverberates through the house. It's also outside, in the car radios and on all of the phones and computers. Amy pulls her phone out of her pocket and its screaming at them, too.

The Earth's communication systems have been hacked. A face appears on the screen after a moment, fuzzy and the image keeps rolling, but there it is. An alien. It's skin is a sleek blue, eyes bugging out of its head like the thing is emaciated, the mouth stretching wide like a Cheshire cat smile, full of pointed teeth with a small slit of a nose. Their voices, Amy and Rory learn when it speaks, is a slippery sort of gurgle. "Greetings and salutations." it announces, smiling its deranged smile. "We are the To." Amy mouths the name quietly to herself. "Your world seems to possess an energy provider far beyond its time. We want it." the alien continues.

"The To are the power providers of multiple galaxies. Electricity company of the universe. They're a species of business, everything they do they do to make money. Profit, profit, profit. They buy and sell everything they can get their hands on, and steal the things that are more difficult to have. Power isn't just energy, power is people. They sell slaves, they buy slaves, they help immigrate prisoners from other planets if they're paid well enough." the Doctor says quickly, knowing they have to leave right now. "To obtain this device, we will make only one offer. It, for your world." the To informs the Earth, and then they release the communication systems. "Why is it always something or the Earth? Why can it never be, surrender or we kill all of the mosquitoes?" Ari questions weakly from her position on the couch.

"We can't go through with it." Rory says, but it's more like a pleading question. "Rory, don't you know that when someone ransoms the Earth, you give them what they want?" Ari says sardonically. "But we just got you back." Amy protests. "Well, I never said they were gonna get to keep me. But look, I'm either gonna die here and not save the planet, or I'm gonna save the planet, and then still probably die. I'd like to save the planet." Ari nods to herself, looking at the Doctor. "Will you be able to get me back?" The Doctor stares at her hard for a long moment, then produces somewhere from deep inside him a cocky smile that nearly breaks him and nods, willing himself not to wince.

"Right, how do we contact them?" Ari asks, all business, trying to sit up limply. The Doctor helps her, tugging her into a sitting position as more energy rises forcefully from her mouth. "They're monitoring all communication systems. Send a text." the Doctor says simply. Amy pulls out her phone and gives it to the Doctor, who types out a text to Rory giving their coordinates and a description of Ari, ending with, _Come and get it. _

Almost immediately, a beam of light shines into the house, searching around and scanning over all of the inhabitants, before landing on Ari and teleporting her aboard. "And so it begins." Rory says, resigned, watching her go with a mournful expression on his face.


	17. Business as Usual

**A/N: Two chapters in just shy of 24 hours of eachother. So, next chapter we're going to be getting a Pond family reunion so you can look forward to that. Also, thanks to all of the people who have read, favorited, followed and reviewed my story so far; you really warm my cold, blackened soul.**

Ari shakes violently, trying to remain upright and steady, the only thing supporting her since her legs gave out are the cuffs around her wrists, suspending her arms up and out to keep her standing. Her shoulders burn with the strain, but she's glad she isn't crumpled on the floor. They-the To- have her plugged into the ship and are speaking quietly amongst themselves, saying how she could power an entire planet for a good decade if they could keep her alive for that long. Her head rolls back, the needles in her hands and arms uncomfortable and pinching, connecting her to wires that glow gold, a breathing mask over her face to catch the regeneration energy that floats out of her mouth every so often. She would like to say it doesn't hurt, but that would be a lie.

She knows she should be dead by now, the only thing keeping her alive is a rudimentary life support system that is meant for Wonderland type blue aliens, not human/Gallifreyan hybrids. And she has a vague idea of why she should be dead. Human biology and Gallifreyan biology are both dominant genes that would both appear mostly in an organism's traits, and are also completely incompatible. The only reason Ari exists is because of her mother's half Time Lord constitution, and even, according to Ari's reading, she had been lead to believe that Time Lords are sterile. They used biological looms to create children.

But, after her first regeneration, it's been a warzone of genes trying to snuff the other's out to make room. Basically. And it's also creating the biggest source of energy for ages and light years. The To are bg on getting new, cheap ways to fuel ships and planets, as the Doctor told her.

The Doctor turns back on where his daughter had been and leads the Ponds into the TARDIS, both of them gaping at the new layout. "Doctor… what happened to the TARDIS?" Amy asks. "And… _you_?" Rory adds, looking over the man in his purple and harsh gazes. Ever since they had seen him again, the Doctor has had harder eyes and less patience with the both of them, some of his compassion missing. Accept for when it came to his daughter, of course. "It was longer, for me. Than it was for you. Ari's been dead longer than you realize, much longer." the Doctor says bitterly. "How much longer?" Rory asks suspiciously. "Maybe a few years. I'm not sure." the Doctor admits. The Ponds nod, uncertain, but that's not very important right now.

"So, what now, then?" Rory asks thoughtfully, eyeing her imaginary friend that looks a bit like the man she met at Utah. More than a bit. "We politely ask for them to give Ari back," the Doctor smiles wanly. "And if they says no?" Rory presses. "Then we ask less politely." comes the answer.

Rory thinks back to the time when his friend obliterated an entire Cyberman fleet for a scrap of information on his wife in order to find her and their child. But those creatures in their robotic suits, there's nothing human left. There may have been, once, but it disappeared when they were upgraded, only the shells of men, now. But the aliens they're going up against are actual living creatures. Flesh and blood, albeit blue. Maybe not very friendly, but surely they don't deserve whatever rath the Doctor may have planned for them. Rory realizes he's been staring at the Doctor for too long and looks away, somehow embarrassed.

This is his granddaughter, a little girl he's come to love-he imagines-he would love River if he had raised her, if he had truly known her as a child. And in this instance, mercy will not do.

The Doctor fiddles with the controls, trying to look productive while his mind races. Ari will die no matter what, she has hours left at best, until the Doctor can figure out a way to save her, he might as well leave her where she is because she's no safer. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they say. If he can't stand the heat, he needs to get out of the kitchen. And this heat will kill Ari. So soon after getting her back.

Desperate measures always lead to the same basic mode of attack: Do as I say or I destroy us all. And the Doctor knows this. So, he follows through, with some minor revisions. He flies the TARDIS onto the ship and grabs a thingamabob off of the console, pressing some buttons on it and checking to see the settings. That's what he calls it outloud and in his head. A thingamabob because he doesn't want to say "highly dangerous weapon that the TARDIS manufactured to fit my needs". Because the Doctor is uncomfortable with how comfortable he is with requiring such a weapon and asking the TARDIS to make it for him. His ship is his home, it's safe. It isn't a thing of war. It's all that's left of his planet.

He steps out of the TARDIS with Amy and Rory right behind him and waves jovially at the surprised Slitheens on the deck, his eyes roaming the room, examining every corner thoroughly with a glance, sliding easily over the girl at the back of the room, all wired into the machinery. Her mouth covered with a breathing mask and her eyes fogged over, but still trained on him. Most living things, when in peril, will seek out and lock onto the individual they most trust in that situation. The one least likely to hurt them and most likely to save them. Basic survival instinct. Even when said living thing is nearly incapacitated and a hard cough away from death.

"Hello!" the Doctor chirps, his voice light and his eyes dark, while Amy and rory glare at the strange aliens, their entire bodies slender and seemingly boneless, the way they turn and walk akin to a jellyfish. "What do you want?" one asks, but the Ponds have trouble telling which one, as they all look the same. the Doctor raises a hand to point. "Her," he says, aiming a finger at Ari. She blinks, eyes flickering with the recognition of being addressed. "You surrendered her willingly." A To argues superiorly.

"Please give her back to me." the Doctor ignores the comment. He is met with silence. "I'm going to ask nicely one more time." he warns like a Kindergarten teacher telling a toddler to share the crayons. "No." a To hisses.

"Do you know what this is?" the Doctor holds up the thingamabob. They reply with blank stares of confusion. "This is the way you're going to die." he tells them, ignoring the sputtered protests of his human friends. Ari rolls her head, pulling it up and trying to speak past the mask over her mouth, but it doesn't work. The Doctor knows that this is close to pointless if he doesn't figure out a way to save her, without life support she has maybe hours left, every second of which will be agonizing. But, he'd rather have her with him while he tries to save her.

"And risk her?" A Slitheen challenges, nodding to Ari while another one detaches her from the chains holding her up and dragging her forward in front of the other Tos, as a shield and also a sign that they may be willing to negotiate. "No, because you're going to give her to me before I press this button." the To are vain, cowardly creatures. Their lives are of the utmost importance to them. They'll bend. The aliens don't reply at first, just watching the Doctor carefully, looking for a tell that he's bluffing. He doesn't give them one, standing passively with steely eyes.

"We give her over and you spare us?" a To finally questions. The Doctor raises his eyebrows. They don't even notice him handing the sonic screwdriver to Rory behind his back, who hold it unobtrusively by his thigh. The Roman grips it tightly, waiting. The To holding Ari moves forward at the direction of another and Rory aims the sonic at them, pressing the activator and burning through the wires connecting Ari to the ship. The To jumps back in surprise and Ari falls forward, Amy catching her deftly and putting the girl firmly behind herself and the Doctor while supporting nearly all of her weight. Parental powers are the only real superpowers. The Doctor gives Ari a brief glance she meets through hazed eyes and sighs inwardly. A few hours may have been a bit of a stretch. Then, he glares at the To once more and moves his hand as if to drop the thingamabob into his pocket, instead unobtrusively dropping it into the ground and turns with a whirl of his coat, pushing the doors open and helping to guide Amy inside, touching Ari's head gently and minding the door frame.

Rory follows swiftly after and the Doctor flies the TARDIS into the Vortex, then turns to Amy leaning against the railing with Ari tucked into her side. He fishes around in his pockets for a moment and finds that things are stashed inside that he didn't really know he had. He comes out with a penlight and smiles triumphantly at it, walking over to Ari and crouching in front of her, snapping his fingers in her face to gain her attention and shines the light into her eyes while she follows the movements of his finger. Delayed reaction, brain functions are already starting to slow and still wisps of the golden light float from her nose with every shallow breath she takes.

"You have my express forbiddance to die." the Doctor says and Ari nods almost imperceptibly. Pulling her away from Amy, the Doctor sits with Ari on the floor, her head in his lap and her hair falling in her unhealthily pale face. Brushing her hair off of her forehead, the Doctor thinks quickly, trying to remove himself from the situation to look at it calmly. Dying girl who can't finish her regeneration cycle due to her human biology. What do you do? The Doctor has a hyper-conductive brain, if he could just think without emotion for a moment then- "Stupid!" the Doctor shouts, startling the Ponds and disturbing Ari who moves, wrinkling her nose at the invasively loud noise. "I'm so stupid. This is the first thing I should've done." the Doctor continues more quietly. Then, he carefully places his hands on either side of her head and rubs his thumbs over her temples as his own hands start to glow. Her regeneration just needs a little push.

Ari's head burns and she whines, trying to move away from him but the Doctor holds her still. He tries not to think about the years of his life he's washing away by doing this, knowing he could just hit her with it all at once and save himself maybe a score or two of years, but that would be excruciatingly painful, so he lets go of maybe too much regeneration before she begins to complete her first one on her own. The Doctor moves quickly and the Ponds even take a step back, remembering River's regeneration and Ari explodes with golden light, but it barely lasts for a second before it dies and the same girl is lying on the floor, looking up at them again in a daze. "Still no change." the Doctor says with a smile. "Shame. I was hoping for straighter hair." she remarks, her voice still hoarse.

Pushing herself into a sitting position, she looks around and spots the Doctor, eyes going down to his throat and then she stands, a little shaky, but she waves him off when she starts rummaging around all over the place, going down under the main floor to the bottom of the time rotor, finding a panel and lifting it, grinning at her victory as she starts throwing the clothes out of it, yanking them by sleeves, ties and zippers until she unearths a small wooden box. "Are you having a style change?" the Doctor calls to her knowingly. "No," she opens the box and grins, "You are." taking the purple patterned bow tie out of the box, she goes back up and stares him down.

"I really dig the purple. But," she waves the bow tie at him, "You're practically naked. I feel scandalized every time I look at you." she approaches him and rises to her toes, lifting his collar and tying it around his neck. The Doctor moves to stop her, but she slaps his hands away, straightening it against his neck and marveling at how skillfully she was able to do it. Then, she yanked around and pulled into an uncomfortably tight hug by two pairs of arms. "Hello, the Ponds." Ari mutters patting their backs gently and waiting for them to pull away. "You can't just go and do things like that to me, you know. In my old age, you're going to give your old grandpa a heart attack." Rory mutters while Amy beams at Ari.

"Wasn't exactly my choice, but alright." Ari concedes, smiling back. Looking from the Doctor's brooding expression Ari can't see to the girl's matching green eyes giving off a sense of strain, Rory takes Amy's hand. "We'll leave you to it, then." he says and opens the door to see that they're already landed back home. When the Ponds exit, the two aliens are left in difficult, uncomfortable silence. "So, that's it? Business as usual, now?" Ari asks doubtfully. "I suppose." the Doctor replies, but Ari can't hold onto it anymore. "I'm sorry." she blurts, surprising the Doctor. "For what?" he replies. "I don't blame you. None of this was your fault. And I'm not upset with you, you know." Ari explains and the Doctor stares at her as she leans forward against the console, gripping it in her hands tightly, not looking at him.

"I find that surprising. Considering what you told John before he changed and what you told me earlier. And you were right. I am to blame, I did leave you." the Doctor says mournfully. "I was just angry. And in pain. I didn't mean it. I certainly didn't want you to beat yourself up about it like you did. For however long I was out." Ari looks over at him. "Beat myself up?" the Doctor scoffs, trying even now to deny it. "Yes. You hid. You drank. You didn't get rid of me. I woke up in one piece. I should've been ashes. You didn't talk to Amy, Rory or River. They had to find out from Vastra. I didn't want that for you." Ari says.

"Ari, you blaming or not blaming me would've done nothing to how I blame myself. I didn't care about what you said to me, it didn't hurt my feelings. Not as badly as you dying did." the Doctor reasons and Ari huffs a humorless laugh, standing up straight. "Why blame yourself?" she asks, drumming her fingers on the console. "Because I'm selfish. I have to have the credit for everything." the Doctor replies with a more mirthful smile. Ari shakes her head, looking down at her clothes. They're not burnt at all. Her socks are still hugging her feet tightly, her shirt is still whole and unstained.

"I did miss you, though." the Doctor admits, not wanting her to think that he was only upset because of his own guilt, not at the actual loss he suffered. "As well you should've. I'm not sure you're aware, but I'm the most appealing part of you." Ari says, flipping her hair with mock-arrogance, before grinning at the Doctor, wanting to wash away the bitter atmosphere of before. The Doctor goes over to put the TARDIS into flight, kissing the part in Ari's hair as he does so, watching as it falls into her face in a much less tame version of his bangs and marveling at how she still watches what he does as eagerly as the first dozen times she's seen how he flies the TARDIS, everything just a little bit off and with the brakes still on. "We need to pay a visit to your mother." the Doctor announces. "How many times are you planning on being slapped today?" Ari teases, but smiles at the thought of seeing River nonetheless.


	18. Welcome to Life

**A/N: This was a little later than I wanted the chapter to be out. I've been suffering a severe case of No Motivation Disease, but I'm all better now, it seems. I'm not sure how I like seeing the Ponds interact with post-Pond Doctor, as he would be in canon. Obviously, this isn't canon compliant, but feedback would be appreciated. I love getting comments and PM's, so don't be shy. I'm not that mean, I promise! **

Ari had fallen ill, caught some sort of virus from a planet they visited, so the Doctor insists. "No, I got it from you, you stupid Time Lord carrier monkey!" she had snapped when he told her that. Then, she had collapsed because of the stress of yelling and the Doctor decided to put her to bed, leaving her with some water and saltine crackers. She can't keep anything down, everything she's eaten for the past two days would be forced back up barely ten minutes later. Obviously it's the Doctor's intention to stay in the TARDIS until she gets better, relaxing with all the antibiotics she could wish for.

The Doctor sits in the console room with a book that must weight 5 pounds, the history of the Sunsingers of Akhet is what the title tells him. He could've flipped through and finished the entire thing in under 30 seconds, but it's going to be a slow few days at least, so the Doctor resigns himself to reading at an unhurried human pace, planning to finish all of it. He's on page 13 when the phone on the console rings. He's tempted to ignore it, but the dry coughing that can be heard from down the hall stops long enough to emit an annoyed groan which pushes the Doctor to his feet, picking up the receiver.

"Hello?" He says blandly. He immediately becomes alert, however, when the recognizable voice of River Song sounds over the line, pinched with pain. "River, what's wrong?" The Doctor calls, abandoning his book. "Doctor, I need you here this instant." River says, hurriedly giving him coordinates and hanging up with a pained gasp. The Doctor calls down the hall to Ari. "I've gotten a rather urgent call from River, I'm going to see her. I'll be back soon. Stay here." Ari groans in reply and there's the sound of rustling as she tries to get comfortable as the Doctor flies the TARDIS as steadily as possible, locking onto the coordinates River gave. Landing softly he opens the door and slams it louder than necessary, hoping the squeak of its hinges will signal to Ari that he's gone.

He finds himself in a hospital reception area, the TARDIS tucked into a corner out of the way. He strolls up to the desk, clearing his throat and gaining the attention of the blue lady with the all black eyes in her green nurse scrubs. She looks up at him pleasantly. "I'm here to see a River Song?" the Doctor offers. The nurse checks her computer. "No River Song here, sir." she says, looking at the Doctor with concern. "Try Melody Pond." the Doctor urges and she plugs the name in, beaming at him when she looks away from the screen. She gives him a room number in the maternity ward and the Doctor rushes to the elevator, riding up and tapping his foot impatiently, but remaining calm all the same. Can't seem panicked when he sees her.

Walking down the hall, he peeks his head into the room, knocking gently on the door that's propped open. "Hello." he says, entering and gazing down at River, propped up in the white bed, her stomach a huge bulge under the thin blanket. She looks up at him and wrinkles her nose at his unfamiliar attire, but smiles tightly at him anyway. "Hello, sweetie." she reaches for her blue diary on the bedside table. "Where are we?" she asks, expecting to be ahead of him. "Farther than you, I'm afraid." the Doctor smiles and sits in the chair next to her bed. "Yeah? What makes you say that?" River teases, her eyes twinkling. "You've swallowed a planet." the Doctor laughs at her and she smiles a little wider, touching her belly gingerly before wincing at him.

"A mysterious planet at that. The scans aren't working on it. Can't find out the sex, whether it's healthy, the ultrasound was just a bunch of static with flashes of fingers and toes. Couldn't even find out how many." River admits, a thread of fear slipping into her voice as her eyes fall to the blankets. "Don't worry yourself. The baby will be fine." the Doctor dismisses her concern. She winces as a contraction hits her and she takes a deep breath. "I only went into labor about an hour ago. The contractions shouldn't be this bad, yet." River says ruefully. "Hybrid child. Always more stressful on the mother." the Doctor supplies, but he can tell River is in no way done chewing him out. She gives him a stubborn look and says, "Tell me about the baby Doctor. I know you know." It doesn't take much, the Doctor wanting to indulge his wife and also brag about his kid. That's what parents are supposed to do; be proud of their kids.

"It's a girl. She's a girl. Perfectly healthy. Stunning, obviously. Brave, smart; more so than me, at times. She has a hard time for a while, but she's fine." the Doctor says with a smile. He tries his best to remain vague. "And?" River presses, drinking in every word. "I found her in Seattle. She saved the world after I'd only known her an hour. Stubborn as hell, wouldn't admit it looked like rain if she were standing underneath a hurricane. Like you." the Doctor smiles at River fondly and she rolls her eyes. "Or you." she counters. "Am I a good mother? Does she love me?" River asks. "Yes. The best, you make me rethink my assumptions about the adequacy of my own mother. She loves you very much. And Amy and Rory. She's got them wound around her little finger. Just like the rest of us." the Doctor laughs to himself. "Is she safe? Is she always safe?" River sighs, closing her eyes and imagining it. A girl, maybe with curls and a crooked smile. "You protect her." the Doctor says carefully. Nurses and doctors come and go, questioning the Doctor's presence until he's identified as the father. While River tries to rest, the Doctor's pocket heats up and he jumps slightly in his seat, rummaging around in his pocket until he pulls out the psychic paper with a fresh message on it. From Ari.

_Amy called, I told her you were at the hospital with River. She wants to be picked up immediately. Also, Rory would like you to know he has a sword and he isn't afraid to use it. _The short message reads and the Doctor sighs, tucking it into his jacket and telling River that he'll be back in two minutes. Going back to the TARDIS, the Doctor stops by Ari's room to see her pale with hot cheeks and red eyes, curled around her stomach, her crackers and water untouched by her bedside, sitting next to her sketchbook and paperback. She peers up at him blearily and he smiles at her. "What's wrong with River?" she asks quietly. "She's in labor." the Doctor informs her and Ari wrinkles her nose. "Time travel's weird. Are you going to get Amy and Rory?" Ari pushes a controlled breath out of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut against waves of nausea as her mouth waters. "In a minute." the Doctor pushes some of her hair out of her face, short and wild as ever, feeling her burning forehead at the same time.

Almost all of the medicines the Doctor has available are for humans because he doesn't get sick with anything that can be cured and he's afraid to give any of it to her because over half is potentially toxic to Time Lords. And this is just something the Doctor recognizes she'll just have to ride out, anyway. Going to the bathroom, he wets a washcloth and drops it onto her forehead, trying to bring her temperature down as she fights to do it manually with her supposedly adjustable body temperature. No such luck. "Still can't keep anything down?" he asks and Ari shakes her head dismally, rubbing at her burning eyes. Even with her fever, she's bundled herself under a quilt, turning into a Time Lord/human burrito.

"You have to be dehydrated." the Doctor insists and she scowls at him. "Yeah. But when you puke up the water that you drink, it sort of discourages you to try again." Ari argues. "Just try, alright? Send me a message if you need anything. I'm going to get the Ponds and go back to River." the Doctor says. "Are you going to tell her about me?" Ari calls after him and he stops in her doorframe. "Maybe. I'm not sure. What happened immediately after your birth, Ari? Do you know?" the Doctor asks. "I was first adopted by this couple when I was three months old." Ari shrugs, grudgingly sipping her water.

"Thank you." the Doctor mutters, then leaves, promising himself he'll stop back by later. Picking up the Ponds, the Doctor lands right in River's hospital room one minute and 30 seconds after he left her. Amy busts out and gives River a knowing smile. "Melody Pond, you're huge." she remarks, going to River's bedside. Rory wasn't thrilled about leaving a sick girl by herself, but can't help but be glad he's there for River. "I've been told I'm having a daughter." River says expectantly. "Yes. And we take _excellent _care of her." Amy says proudly. "I never doubted you for a moment." River smiles a little. Rory smiles at that, but doesn't say anything. "Do I ever tell you about her?" River asks, trying to be cautious of their non-linear relationship. "No. I find out for myself. Never tell her, either." the Doctor replies quickly.

For the next few hours, they spend time with idle chatter until the doctors and nurses come to deliver the baby. The Doctor, Amy and Rory are pushed out of the way and the Doctor stupidly offers River his hand to squeeze and nearly gets his fingers broken.

After a while, Ari is picked up off of the table and held carefully, whining a little and letting out the odd distressed cry, but not extreme wailing that anyone was expecting. They brush her off gently and wrap her in a blue towel before handing her over to the Doctor, after seeing that River was busy lying lethargically without any intention to move for at least a few moments. He looks down at her curiously, observing. He's seen his daughter before, but there's still that odd sense of unfamiliarity with her as a baby.

She's whining, high-pitched cries coming out of her toothless mouth, she's small and a bluish color with a head covered in damp curls, born with a completely covered head of hair. River sits up but doesn't ask for her and the Doctor doesn't offer. Gallifreyan babies are completely different than human ones, the Doctor's never done this before. The children on Gallifrey were created using special genetic looms and raised in a different environment, whisked away in what was considered newborn infancy to start learning in the Academy and become a real Time Lord.

It's strange, the Doctor can admit she's very funny looking. Her head is big and she's all covered in blood and goo. He knew human babies always look funny, but it still shocks him. What shocks him more is that, without a doubt, this squirming, funny looking creature is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

"Congratulations, it's a healthy baby girl. Do you have a name chosen?" a nurse asks River, but looks at the Doctor with confusion. Remembering himself, he hands the baby to his wife and she looks at it with the same awed expression. But then she nods to the Doctor and clears her throat, she doesn't know the name. He speaks up. "Arkytior Jessica Pond-Song." he manages to say and writes it on a clipboard offered to him. "Interesting. Distinctive." River muses and the Doctor sits in the chair beside her bed, leaning to say into her ear, "We call her Ari." A nurse takes Ari to clean her up properly while others clean up the room and then clear out. The Doctor watches as his baby is taken away by expert hands with distaste, knowing they will have to move fast. Now begins the race against time and the game of cat and mouse against an Architect.

"We have to take her away from here, River. Once they discover what she is, which will be any minute, we can't stick around." Rory warns, speaking the Doctor's mind. But then he worries over the massive paradox it would cause to have two Aris in one TARDIS, until River nods. "I'm prepared. I have a ride waiting for my call to get us to a small planet a few light years away. Mostly deserted, but the people there will help us." she says quickly. "Do you have a plan, Doctor?" Amy asks. "I'm getting one, yeah. Amy, Rory; you can go with River and I'll fly the TARDIS. Meet you there." he says. After a moment, they bring Ari back, now wrapped in a pink blanket over a white onesie to match the hat covering her head. Amy reaches out for her and the nurses leave them alone.

"Hello, cutie." Amy coos, taking one of the newborn's hands, allowing a fist to be wrapped around her pinky. She continues to talk to the baby, holding her securely as her large, puffy eyes open to reveal the murky blue color of most newborns that will soon change to a misty green. Rory comes to peer over his wife's shoulder at the baby curiously and she looks back at him. Newborns don't have very good eyesight, they're vision isn't focused and they often seem cross-eyed in the first few months, but she aims him with a serene, curious gaze that unnerves the Roman. The Doctor takes her back, almost possessive, kissing the top of her head carefully as she waves her arms around, making small whining noises in the back of her throat. Her mouth opens into a yawn as she settles.

"Newborns don't do much more than sleep for the first few days. Should be easy to move her." Amy says, thinking of Melody when she was a baby, how exhausted they both were. River watches them interact with a small smile, but then checks the clock across the room and sighs. "Time to go. The ship will meet us on the roof." she says and Rory hurries to transition her into a wheelchair as Amy rises to pack up River's belongings. The Doctor knows he'll have to dig up baby supplies from the TARDIS somewhere and bring out the old cradle again.

They quickly make their way up to the roof, Rory pushing River, Amy carrying everything they have with them and the Doctor making sure not to jostle Ari as she dozes in his arms, knowing if they don't bother her, they might be able to get to the planet before she wakes up when she gets hungry. "They'll be here any minute." River says, sitting and trying not to shudder in the chilled air with an alien star system above their heads. She looks over at the Doctor, hunching away from the cold and biting wind, holding Ari tighter so she doesn't get cold and is suddenly thankful for her little hat and footie pajamas under that blanket. They see a streak of light that signifies the ship entering the atmosphere and Amy reaches for Ari, surprised when the Doctor doesn't hand her over.

"Only for a while, c'mon, they're nearly here." Amy encourages, touching the Doctor's arm. He just shrugs her off. Stepping closer, she lowers her voice, "Now, look, Doctor. You've got more than one to look after and the other one is waiting for you. This Ari won't even notice your absence, your teenager is alone." Amy knows the girl can melt his hearts with a look and it works at the mention of her, too, because the Doctor passes Amy to offer the warm bundle to River. "See you around." he says, grinning confidently and then turns to reenter the hospital alone.

Going into the TARDIS, the Doctor went to see Ari again, finding her asleep in her room, eyebrows furrowed in discomfort. Her glass of water is empty and two of the cracker are missing, but she's even warmer than before and curled around her stomach tightly in her sleep. Gently nudging her awake, the Doctor tells her where they're going. "I might not be around much for a little while." he says. "Few months, you mean." she replies groggily. When he looks at her guiltily, Ari just smiles. "Don't worry about it, you're still looking after me. Just younger." she says, patting his arm. "You'll be better soon. I'll send Rory by to check on you later. He's supposed to be a nurse." the Doctor wrinkles his nose, as if he's still not entirely convinced. "When the Doctor is out, who you gonna call?" she quips tiredly, shoving her face back into her pillow.

The Doctor flies the TARDIS to the planet they're going to hide away on landing as gently as possible, then exits, grinning as if he didn't pause to talk to a sick girl. It's a building like a skyscraper looking over a mostly empty planet, save a few abandoned construction sites. Apparently the owners are to be trusted and the group is lead to a small room near the top of the building, one window with drawn blinds their only view of outside. The room itself contains a single bed, a small kitchenette in the corner, a cramped bathroom, a rocking chair and slightly humid air.

River holds Ari, but she doesn't even glance at the Doctor before reaching out to hand the baby over to the Time Lord. The newborn that was making unhappy noises before settles when the Doctor seats himself in the rocking chair next to the crib he had brought out after landing his TARDIS inside of the actual room. River leans back in her wheelchair and waits for the Doctor to explain his plan with tired eyes. "Three months. We'll stay here for three months, and then we'll send her off. Any longer and I reckon any enemies will be able to track us down. But, we still don't know who we can trust and what she's capable of, so we have to wait." the Doctor explains simply. "We're staying here for three months? You are?" Amy asks doubtfully. "Do you know of anywhere else for me to be?" the Doctor challenges haughtily. She shakes her head even though she knows the grown Ari will need him, allowing him to win.

"We're sending her to strangers?" River confirms and the Doctor nods. "Nothing else will be safe. If she goes to anyone we're in relations with, it'll be infinitely easier to track her down." the Doctor says, but he knows that he could take bigger precautions. Send her to a far off planet never to be seen by a human. Put her somewhere his past self would never think to visit and erase her from his life, knowing she will be safer for it. But no. He won't do that. Because he's grown dependent on her and he'll feel something amiss, and time is a very delicate thing.

Ari whines quietly, scrunching up her face and opening her mouth in a growing tantrum. "She's hungry." the Doctor interprets. He speaks baby, even new born. Amy goes to fill a bottle, grabbing a tan bag and leaving momentarily. This far in the future, formula is just as good as breast feeding, and River knows it, happy to not have to bother with the whole thing. If something were to happen, she's glad Ari won't be dependent on her for something like that. The baby is already reasonably self-sustained with other people responsible for her besides River herself. "Now hush. She's coming." the Doctor says with a small smile at Ari, who ignores him. "Already like your mother." the Doctor frets, frowning. "What're you doing?" Rory asks the Doctor. "I speak baby. Haven't we been over this already?" the Doctor answers and Ari whines a little more.

"Yes, I know. Small brain, he does need to keep up." the Doctor agrees with her and Rory ruffles. "Oi, she's two hours old; I will not be mocked by a two hour old infant." Rory protests while River leans her head back, relaxing and chuckling a little at her family. Amy returns with a bottle, smiling as she hands it over to the Doctor while Ari looks at her. The Doctor allows Ari to drink for a moment, but then pulls it away. "It's hot." he announces. "It is not! I checked. Did the wrist thing and all." Amy argues. "Ari says it's hot." the Doctor replies. "Ari will drink it and she will like it." Amy growls threateningly and the Doctor swallows his remark humbly.

River watches as she's fed and burped, frowning. "Shouldn't I be doing this? I am the mother." she protests. "Your part comes later. She'll need you more when she's older." the Doctor says, watching Ari carefully.

After a little while of holding her, she yawns, waving her small fists in the air. "Back to bed with you." the Doctor says with a laugh, expecting this is all she'll do for a few days. "She'll sleep for a little while, then she'll cry, and go back to sleep again. When she gets older, she won't want to sleep at all. Kiss your sanity goodbye." Amy says knowingly. She did this with Melody for a while. She was a few months old, also, when they took her. Then, she was given back with the face of Amy's best friend, only to turn into the largest enigma she's ever encountered a short while later.

"Can I get a little bit of hush?" the Doctor snaps, causing Amy to raise her eyebrows. "Whoa there, Mister Sassy-face." she laughs, but quiets. Ari yawns again as the Doctor calms and speaks to her in Gallifreyan. River listens carefully, only able to speak Old Gallifreyan fluently, High Gallifreyan eludes her, she can barely understand most of it and even pronouncing it is close to impossible. It has something to do with a psychic species where the language is slightly telepathic, meaning that only people with the correct brains can understand what's being said. That's what the Doctor is speaking to Ari now. After the baby is completely dead to the world, the Doctor drops her into the cradle carefully and listens to the small breathy noise she makes.

Rory looks over to Amy, seeing her drawn face and sighs. "I think we're going to turn in." he says and Amy nods. The go into the TARDIS to seek out their old bedroom, which may or may not still be there with the redecorating of the place. The Doctor sits in the rocking chair, at the ready for any late night tantrums. "I can handle it by myself, you know. I just gave birth, I didn't suffer an injury." River says pointedly and the Doctor looks over at her. "I know you're capable. I just don't think I'm capable of leaving." he admits, looking at the sleeping child. Dreaming baby dreams, he supposes, but at any rate, they aren't nightmares like his Ari is plagued with. She denies it and brushes him off, even after all the times he's roused her from them, but he knows.

"What's that look?" River asks the Doctor, studying him as he lifts his eyes with an unreadable expression in them to her. The look on his face, his new look in general, she's curious. He just smiles mysteriously in a way River doesn't really know if she learned from him or him from her but infuriates her all the same, dropping his eyes again. She huffs in slight annoyance, getting up to turn out the light and drop onto the small and surprisingly soft bed. It might just be soft to her because she's dead tired, but anywhere could be good enough to sleep, at the moment.

And while everyone is happily sleeping or resting, the other, older Ari opens her eyes out of her pretend, elusive slumber and can't find the courage to try and sleep. The Doctor is taking care of the baby, the Ponds are asleep, and River doesn't know her. It's lonely. And it hurts. Not being alone. That isn't a problem, she's much too used to the feeling for it to affect her anymore. It's knowing that even though she's loved right now, loved and safe, the baby will soon be sent away into a world where she won't feel like that again for such a long time. And that's why she's lonely. As much as everyone is doing for that child, the outcome will still be the same. The outcome will still be her.


End file.
